One Kiss
by Hank's Lady
Summary: Paul's story - a teenage boy desperate for some fun wherever he can find it, which often lands him in trouble and earns him beatings from a violent father. At the age of 15 he moves to La Push and finds torment, confusion and love.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters from Twilight, just borrowing them from Stephanie Meyer - I added a few of my own too. **

**My second Twilight stor****y - written from Paul's point of view. Rated for language, violence and sex - and if you didn't read the summary, it's SLASH so if you don't like that, turn back now :o)**

**Can anybody guess who the boy on the beach is? ;o)  
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CHAPTER ONE

I grew up in Tacoma, Washington. My parents divorced when I was eight; Mom moved out of state with a new guy she met and I stayed with Dad. He would never have let her take me away anyway, that much was certain. Since he couldn't control her any more, he intended to at least control me.

He transferred the application of his fists from her to me the minute she moved out and I guess I got used to it. I just did the best I could not to annoy him too much. He only hit me when he was drunk and that was usually the weekend after he got paid and a couple of days after, so I learned to keep out of his way for those few days. He took it out on the furniture or something instead when he couldn't find me, but at least I suffered fewer bruises and bloody noses.

The rest of the time things were ok - he would talk to me about when he was a kid growing up in La Push on the west coast. We were Quileute and everyone in La Push was of the same tribe, most of them distantly related in some way or another, which sounded kind of incestuous to me. Dad took me there to visit two or three times over the summer holidays and I loved the beach, but other than that there wasn't much life in the place. I liked that though; I enjoyed my own company.

We didn't go there for a few years and then one summer when I was fourteen we went back and stayed around a month. Dad was considering moving there again, but hadn't quite made up his mind. He had taken some overdue leave to see how he felt staying there for a few weeks and he seemed happier, not drinking so much. For that reason I hoped he would decide we were going to make the move.

I spent the summer hanging out at the beach and trying to pick up girls. There weren't that many to be had in La Push, not single ones who wanted to hang around with the likes of me anyway. I did manage to spend a couple of afternoons with some distant cousin ten times removed, named Kerri-Ann, but I wasn't all that keen. She was the same age as me, real silly and giggly, but there were advantages - for fourteen she was pretty well developed up top and didn't mind me kissing her, although my hands received a few slaps when they wandered.

Her parents weren't too impressed with her association with me and put a stop to it, so I went in search of someone new and found... a boy. It didn't bother me - I figured as long as I was getting some fun it didn't matter where it came from. In 2004 no one cared if you were gay - well, most people didn't - and a lot of the Quileute guys on the reservation looked like girls anyway, with hair growing down to their asses.

His name was Richie and he was a year older than me. We spent a couple of weekends fooling around on the beach, talking about sex and eventually jacking each other off a few times. He was of the same mind as me, in that he would rather be with a girl, but in the absence of any easy enough to let you do more than kiss, he was quite happy having a guy's hands on him.

It came to an end when my Dad found out and thrashed me within an inch of my life. He had come looking for me with the intention of taking me into Forks for the afternoon and found me on the beach with Richie, his hand in my pants. I was mortified and furious with both Richie and myself. Dad dragged me home and beat me unconscious. He was as sober as a judge and his fists hurt like hell until I blacked out. I didn't leave the rented house for a week afterwards until the visible bruises faded, but my chest and back were still covered in them.

I avoided Richie like the plague after that and he didn't come looking for me. That was the end to my fun for the rest of the vacation - except for one more little episode at a beach party the night before Dad took me back to Tacoma. He went out himself and didn't seem to care much what I did, so I helped myself to a bottle of his whiskey and took off to the beach.

There were probably forty or fifty kids there, ranging from my age to older ones in their twenties. A bonfire built from driftwood burned high and someone's truck was parked on the sand with its stereo pumping out dance music. Kids danced and drank and fooled about and I sat by myself drinking my whiskey and wondering if I could have one last play around before I had to go home.

I set my eye on two pretty blondes from Forks - I didn't know them, but they sure weren't from La Push. I picked myself up off the sand and went to talk to them, but they made it pretty clear they weren't interested in being seen in the company of a Native and stalked off with their noses in the air. I went back to my bottle, wondering if I would turn out like my Dad, waiting for payday so I could stock up on liquor again.

I didn't move again until I was about halfway down the bottle and more than a little tipsy. Then I hauled myself up again and walked - or rather, weaved - my way down to the water's edge and then followed the tide line. Away from the glow of the fire it was pretty dark and I stumbled along, partially from the soft sand which sank beneath my feet, but more from the drink, until I came upon another lonely soul sitting by himself in the dark.

I didn't know it was a guy at first - I could only make out a silhouette and long hair blowing in the breeze. The figure was sitting on a rock, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them.

"Hey," I said, doing my best not to slur. "Want a drink?"

"No, thanks." It was a young male voice, but not Richie's, thank the good Lord.

"Not joining in the party?" I said.

"No. I came with a couple of friends, but I prefer my own company mostly," he said.

"What are you doing here then, if you prefer being on your own? There's about fifty people right over there," I grinned, waving my arm in the direction of the fire although I knew he wouldn't see it.

"I always come down here to the beach."

"Mind if I sit down?" I said. "Or would you rather I leave you alone?"

I hoped he would suggest I sit down as I felt I might fall down otherwise. I wished I hadn't drunk so much.

"I don't mind; sit down if you want," he said.

I dropped onto the large flat rock beside him with relief and then stupidly took another swig from the bottle. I didn't think I would be getting home any time soon. I glanced at him, wishing it wasn't quite so dark. I couldn't see his features or work out his age or anything. He seemed to be a similar size to me.

"You live here?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm on vacation. Going home tomorrow," I said and absently gulped more whiskey. I asked him about life in La Push and sat listening to his voice, wondering what my chances would be in persuading him to get me off.

"I was hoping to have one last night of fun, but the damned girls here aren't very friendly," I said after a while. "Have you got a girlfriend?"

"No," he said.

"Ever had one?"

"No. What about you?"

"Not exactly. I spent a couple of days fooling about with this girl when I first got here - her parents weren't too keen though and she was kind of annoying." I hesitated a moment. I was itching for some kind of contact and now was as good a time as any to test the water. "Then I met this guy and we had some fun for a while."

"You like guys?" he said.

"I like anything," I grinned. "I prefer girls, I guess, but really who the hell cares? You?"

"I don't really know. I guess I haven't thought about it that much."

"How old are you?" I asked suddenly. The last thing I wanted to do was try and get it on with a twelve year old.

"Fourteen."

"Me too."

I decided to take a chance. What was the worst he could do? Punch me, act all outraged and storm off. I lifted my hand and brushed his hair back where it was blowing over the side of his face, then held it out of the way as I leaned closer and kissed his ear. I felt him shiver, but he didn't pull away. I lifted my other hand and turned him towards me so that our lips met.

I maintained I didn't care who I fooled about with, but I didn't make a habit of actually kissing guys. I hadn't kissed Richie and didn't really plan to kiss this boy either, but I found myself doing it none the less. His lips were warm and soft and after a moment they parted and caressed mine in return. I explored a little with my tongue and found his mouth hot and eager to respond.

I hadn't expected this and I was suddenly filled with excitement. My jeans began to feel tight and I was dying for him to touch me. I slid my arms around him and pulled him closer, stroking one hand up and down his back and running my fingers through his long hair. I dropped my other hand to his thigh, feeling the loose fabric and random zippers and buttons of cargo pants. I squeezed the firm flesh beneath and let my hand creep higher, edging my fingers between his legs until I was about an inch from his groin.

He gasped into my mouth and then broke the kiss. For a moment I thought he would pull away, but he didn't; he just sat there letting me touch him, his head drooping forward against my shoulder. My head was spinning from the whiskey, but I was still with it enough to know what I was doing. I was just about to feel for his dick, see if he was as hard as I was, when a couple of voices yelled out of the darkness and he jumped away from me.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I gotta go." He scrambled to his feet.

"Hey, wait," I slurred, disappointed.

He was already walking away and he didn't stop. I stayed where I was, frustrated and suddenly lonely.

"Damn," I muttered to myself. "I don't even know your name."

Why hadn't I asked him his name? Wasn't that usually one of the first things to ask when you talk to someone new? I groaned and took another gulp of whiskey.

I stayed there on the beach for a while longer and then made my way back to the house. It took me half the night because I couldn't remember where it was and wandered around in circles trying to find something I recognised.

I couldn't stop thinking about that kid. He had a nice voice, beautiful hair and his lips... so soft. The guys who called to him on the beach shouted out a name, but I couldn't remember for the life of me what it was. If only I'd been sober, I would have remembered.

Finally I reached the house. Dad wasn't home and I fell into my bed, relieved that I wasn't going to have to face the third degree or his fists. I fell asleep still thinking about kissing the boy on the beach. That was all it could be; just a kiss and a memory. I was going back to Tacoma tomorrow and even if I stayed, I would never find him. I hadn't even seen his face properly.

I woke just a few short hours later with a fearsome hangover. I'd never drunk like that in my life; in fact I'd never drunk whiskey at all and promised myself I wouldn't again. I drank a pint of water and followed it up with some milk. I was just washing the glass when Dad came in, looking about as bad as I felt.

"Alright, son?" he grunted.

"Fine, Dad." I tried a smile, hoping he wasn't still drunk enough to land one on me.

"Good. That's good. Make me some coffee, would you? Better leave it a while before we hit the road."

We left La Push at lunch time and made it home by early evening after a couple of stops. The journey was a hundred and sixty miles and I knew Dad wasn't fit to be driving, but there was no way I would have said so. I sat in the passenger seat in silence, ignoring the country and western radio station he insisted on playing and trying not to think about the kid on the beach. What the hell was the point? I was never going to see him again and the last thing I wanted was to be hooked on a guy anyway. It was alright fooling about a little, but that was all.

Two days later I did forget about him. I went back to school, saw my friends again and met a girl who had just moved to Tacoma with her parents and started at the high school. She was in most of my classes and as luck would have it, in some of them I had a desk to myself which she ended up having to share as there were no other empty seats.

She was a redhead; that luscious deep red that most people can only get out of a bottle. It was down to her waist and she wore it in a fat braid with little strands escaping around her neck. She had the deepest blue eyes I'd ever seen and a little scattering of freckles over her nose. She had the figure of a sixteen-year-old already and wore tight waistbands and push-up bras to emphasise the fact. Her name was Caitlin and her family was Irish. I'd almost laughed when I heard that - she looked like a typical Irish redhead and it turned out she had a temper to go with it so at least we had that in common.

For some reason I could never quite fathom, Caitlin seemed to like me as much as I liked her. She'd apparently read a lot about Native tribes and was fascinated by the old legend of the Quileute shape-shifters. I didn't know much about it myself and couldn't really say I was interested either, but I asked Dad a tonne of questions one weekend when he was sober so I could talk to Caitlin about it. Much to my surprise, he was only too happy to talk to me at length on the subject and also delighted when I took Caitlin home for supper the first time. To be honest I could have probably taken home the ugliest creature in Tacoma as long as it was female and he'd have been happy.

Over the next few months I fell head over heels for Caitlin. She was beautiful, funny and after a while she didn't seem to mind where I put my hands either, although she wouldn't let me do anything else. She would get me off too, but only with her hand outside my pants and it began to drive me crazy after a while. I was fifteen and filled with raging hormones, but I behaved myself because I was besotted. Until the end of the summer semester when it all got too much and I messed everything up.

Caitlin was determined she wasn't going to have sex before she was eighteen and figured that if I loved her - which I'd said I did - I would wait. I did the best I could, jerking myself off every night and groping with her on the weekends, but two and a half years was a hell of a long time.

One weekend her parents took her away to visit family out of town and I hung around the harbour at a loose end, wondering what to do with myself until she came back. It was there that I stumbled upon Eugene Bentley.

Eugene was as queer as a nine dollar bill - hell, even his name was gay and he got picked on a tonne at school for it. But there he was, parked on a bench reading some girls' magazine and no one else was around. As I sauntered by he looked up and gave me a small wary smile.

I don't really know how it happened; we didn't have all that much of a conversation, but within an hour we were in the wooded area nearby and he was getting me off. Boy, did he do a hell of a job too. I was leaning against a tree, holding onto a branch above my head to stop my legs giving way while he kneeled in front of me, sucking my dick. I thought I'd gone to heaven for those few minutes and apparently so did he, even though he didn't get anything out of it.

I opened my eyes and shoved myself back into my pants as he stood up and when I glanced past him I saw a couple walking towards us down the path, both their faces showing sufficient horror for me to realise they'd seen quite enough. Josh and Samantha. Superb. Sammie was Caitlin's best friend. The four of us often went out together. Eugene took off as if the devil himself was after him and having no clue what to do with myself, I just shoved my hands into my pockets, shrugged as if I hadn't a care in the world and walked away in the opposite direction.

"Fuck!" I muttered to myself. "What the hell did you do that for, you jerk?"

I knew it was all over even before Caitlin's mother called Dad on Sunday night to tell him to keep his disgusting perverted son away from her little girl. I spent two days in hospital after a 'gang' attacked and beat me. At least that was the story. Dad broke my arm and my nose, blacked both my eyes and covered my upper body - front and back - with a rainbow of bruises. I suppose I was lucky he didn't kill me.

There was only a week to go before school ended for the summer break and Dad told them I'd been in an accident and wouldn't be fit to go back. Then he applied for a job in Forks, put the house up for rent and packed all our things into a trailer to go back to La Push. It happened so fast I barely had time to tell my friends, although when I spoke to one of them on the phone, it was clear he'd heard all about my fun in the woods with Eugene and was quite relieved I wouldn't be spending the summer hanging out with him. I didn't bother calling anyone else. There was no point. Let them think what they liked; I wouldn't be there to worry about it. The only thing I did worry about was Caitlin, who I actually had really cared for. I didn't quite know how I was going to stop thinking about her and kicked myself repeatedly for screwing up so badly.

"Paul! Get in the truck," Dad said, interrupting my thoughts. Everything was packed, the house was locked and he had just handed the keys over to the agent arranging the rental.

I did as I was told and sat in silence as Dad started the engine and drove slowly out of Tacoma. I stared out of the window, watching the scenery go by and simply waiting for us to reach La Push and our new life.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

We spent the first week in a motel in Forks while Dad found an apartment to rent for a month. He intended for us to live in La Push, but needed some time to look for a house to rent there and his new job started the following Monday. He enrolled me in Forks High School to start after the summer holidays in September and in the meantime I was left to my own devices.

I spent a couple of days exploring Forks and then took the bus over to La Push. It was close to fifteen miles away and the journey took almost an hour, with the vehicle stopping repeatedly along the route to pick up additional passengers. Apparently the presence of bus stops wasn't relevant - the driver simply pulled over for anyone who stuck their hand out. When it eventually reached the final stop right by the gas station in La Push, I jumped out and made my way to the beach. I couldn't quite believe we would be living here in a few weeks and I began to remember my stay the previous summer as I sauntered along the sands.

I realised I was more or less on the exact spot where the bonfire had been and I walked down to where the waves nibbled at the sand as the tide began to come in. I followed the strip of damp sand to the rocks, where I'd sat drinking whiskey; kissing that boy. I remembered it like it was yesterday; his long silky hair, his soft lips on mine, the heat of his mouth. He said he spent a lot of time on the beach and I reasoned that I was bound to run into him again sooner or later. He lived here, didn't he? My pulse began to quicken. I just wished I knew his name.

I climbed onto the rocks and sat down, daydreaming, and perhaps an hour passed almost before I realised it. I got to my feet again and made my way back down to the sand, which was a considerably narrower strip now with the tide all the way in. I walked along, staring down at my feet, completely unaware that someone was approaching until they halted a few feet away from me.

"Hey. New around here?"

I jerked my head up and found myself facing a guy around my height and age; obviously a Quileute.

"Yeah, me and my Dad moved here from Tacoma last week," I said. "He was born here."

"Where are you living?"

"Forks, but my Dad's looking to rent here in La Push."

"I guess I ought to say welcome home, then," the boy said with a grin, sticking his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Jared Cameron."

"Paul Lahote." I shook his hand.

"What did you do to yourself?" he asked then, looking at the cast on my left arm.

"Oh...uh...I had an accident back home," I shrugged.

"Are you going to Forks High in the fall?" Jared asked then.

"Yeah. You?"

He nodded. "You want me to show you around La Push?"

"Ok," I agreed. "I was here for about a month last year during the holidays." I followed him off the beach and we spent another hour or so wandering around the reservation. He seemed pretty nice and when I caught the bus back to Forks he said he'd watch out for me at school if we didn't run into each other any more over the summer. At least I had managed to find one potential friend already.

I went back to La Push again a couple of days later and walked along the cliff path looking down at the beach. I couldn't seem to stop thinking about that kid; not Jared - the other one. The one whose name I didn't know; the one I would have given almost anything to see; to talk to again. He probably wouldn't even want to know me and I would only be asking for trouble, getting myself tangled up with a boy. As if one arm in plaster wasn't enough. I just couldn't help myself.

I stopped at the edge of the cliff and looked down at the sand and the rocks below, waves rolling gently up the beach. Someone was down there. I was close enough to see that it was a young guy; a young Native guy with long hair hanging halfway down his back. He was wearing cargo pants, t-shirt and boots and as I watched he began to strip off his clothes until he was naked except for a pair of tight grey shorts. Then he began to wade into the water.

My heart hammered. What the hell was I doing, standing up on the cliff watching when I could be down there with him? There was a good chance that was him; the kid from last summer.

"Jacob! Hey, wait up! Jake!"

I switched my eyes to the left and saw two other boys running up the beach, one with equally long hair and the other with short curls. The one I had been watching turned to look at them for a second and then carried on moving deeper into the water.

Suddenly I remembered something that in my drunken haze the year before I hadn't been able to. I was on the beach with that boy, kissing him and he jumped away from me at the sound of his friends calling out to him. 'Jake! Where the hell are you?' Then he had hurried away to join them.

Jake? Jacob? It had to be the same guy, it wasn't like it was a very common name.

I smiled to myself and watched as he dived head first into the waves and began to swim. I couldn't very well go down there now with his two buddies about to join him, but at least I knew he was still here and I knew his name. Jacob.

I ended up returning to Forks without speaking to him and I didn't get the opportunity for the rest of the summer. When I returned, Dad was in the foulest temper, wanting to know where I'd been all day and giving me the third degree on who I'd been with. I guessed he was worried I was seeking out the Eugene Bentleys of La Push and I reluctantly decided I had better forget about Jacob for the time being. Well, I doubted I'd forget about him, but at least I'd restrain myself from going looking for him again until Dad relaxed a bit.

I hung around Forks for the next couple of days, at a loss for something to do. There was a gym there I would have liked to join, but Dad couldn't afford it right away and I couldn't do much by way of working out with my arm in a cast. I stared longingly at the poster inside the front door, advertising what they had in there; CV equipment, cable machines, free weights, various classes and a swimming pool. I'd rather swim in the sea than a pool, but I longed to be able to get in there and use the other stuff. I'd gone to one of the gyms in Tacoma a few times, but it cost a fortune and was always packed to the rafters.

"Hey, thinking of joining?"

I looked up as three white guys came out of the swing doors and halted nearby. Two were blond and the other dark-haired, all about my age.

"Maybe when I get rid of this," I said, raising my left arm.

The one who had spoken gave a short laugh. "How'd you get that? Fighting?"

"Yeah," I said, thinking it would sound cooler than being in an 'accident'.

"New around here?" one of the others asked now.

"Yes, me and my Dad moved from Tacoma a few days ago," I said.

"Why would you want to leave a city to live...here?" wondered the third boy.

"My Dad grew up in La Push; guess he fancied coming home," I said.

"Yeah, of course," the first one said, as if he had only just noticed I was a Native. "I'm Tom. These two are Steve and Bobbie." He offered his hand for me to shake and the other two followed suit.

"Paul," I said, nodding at each of them.

"Do you want to hang out for a while?" Tom asked. "We're going over the road to the diner to get some sodas. Steve's girl works in there for a few hours on the weekends so we get free stuff when her boss isn't looking."

"Sure, ok," I agreed, deciding I might as well kill a few hours talking to them.

We were joined in the diner by Tom's girlfriend Kate and her friend, both of whom were blonde, blue-eyed beauties. The second girl, Melissa, reminded me quite a bit of Caitlin except for the colour of her hair and after establishing she was single, I found myself chatting and flirting with her. If I could get myself a girlfriend, at least Dad would get off my back for a while.

I spent most of the rest of my time in Forks with the 'gang' - Tom and Kate, Steve and Patty, me and Melissa and Bobbie, whose girl was apparently in Europe with her family for the summer. By the time I had taken Melissa back to the apartment a couple of times, Dad left me alone and I actually began to enjoy myself; so much so that I almost - not completely, but almost - forgot about Jacob.

I was quite disappointed when Dad found the house he'd been looking for in La Push, quit the apartment and moved us there two weeks before school started. I'd got used to being able to just get up, go out and be a five minute walk away from my new friends and my girl and now I was an hour's bus ride away. However, Dad was happy for me to travel into Forks with him every morning when he went to work and then ride back with him in the evening. He seemed delighted that I was settling in so well, he liked Melissa and he liked his new job. He hadn't had a drink since we moved and consequently hadn't raised a hand to me either. My arm was out of plaster and rapidly recovering its strength with the help of a series of exercises I was told to do by a doctor at Forks' hospital and Dad promised to treat me to a gym membership when he got his next pay check.

Things were going great with Melissa and I discovered after not too long that she wasn't really anything like Caitlin, in both good and bad ways. The good was that she was a hell of a lot easier. By the end of the summer holidays she was jacking me off regularly and with apparent delight and would let me do pretty much anything as long as I kept my hands out of her panties - for the time being. However, I had an idea she would change her mind about that before too long. She seemed very open-minded about sex and by the way she behaved, I guessed she had probably done it with one or two guys already and was just making me wait for what she thought was a suitable length of time.

The bad thing about her was that she could be a real bitch. Caitlin had had a bad temper, like me, but we would blow up into a quick argument and within ten minutes it would all be over. Melissa would get pissed about something and then sulk and try to make me guess what was wrong and if I didn't get it, she'd lose her temper, accuse me of not caring about her, threaten to break up with me, or simply sulk some more until I invariably did something to get myself back into her good graces. I think the only reason I put up with it was because I guessed she'd have sex with me before too much longer and I was getting pretty desperate to do it by then. Considering how much I'd fooled about with various people, I still hadn't managed to lose my virginity.

All too soon the summer was over and I got ready for my first days at Forks High. I didn't particularly want to go, but I guess I wasn't the only one. I put on the hated school uniform - black pants, white shirt and a tie; I suppose it could have been worse - and went out to catch the school bus to Forks, suddenly wondering if Jacob was going to be on that bus. Shit; I'd almost forgotten about him. He wasn't in the group of kids waiting for the bus with me, but suddenly I spotted Jared walking towards me.

"Hey, Paul," he grinned. "Where have you been all summer?"

"Hey. Mostly in Forks. I got a girlfriend there," I said.

"Already? You didn't waste much time. What's her name?"

"Melissa McLean."

"Are you serious?" It was obvious Jared knew her. "I guess you'll know Tom Stewart's gang too, then," he added.

"Yeah, I've been hanging out with them," I told him.

He frowned now. "You want to watch your step, any one of those guys would stab you in the back if he thought it would benefit him in some way."

"They seem ok."

"Yeah, they will until you piss one of them off."

I took what Jared said with a pinch of salt. I'd spent virtually all summer with Tom and Steve and Bobbie and they seemed genuine enough guys; fun, competitive, assertive; not unlike me I supposed. However, there was one side of them that I hadn't seen and I encountered it in the lunch break on that first day.

It turned out that I was in the same classes as Jared that morning and I shared a desk with him in English and then history. My friends were taking sports and I knew Melissa had art and drama so I hadn't really expected to see them to begin with. After history finished, I abandoned Jared and went looking for them, finding the three guys by the lockers putting away their books and taking out lunches they had brought with them.

"Paul, how's it going?" Bobbie said.

"Could be better, I hate history," I grinned.

"Who doesn't?" Tom slammed his locker closed and leaned against it, glancing down the corridor one way and then the other. "Where the hell are the girls?"

"Art department," said Steve.

"I guess we can catch up with them in the food hall," Tom said, pushing himself away from the lockers now. "Oh, hey, look who it is."

"Who?" Bobbie said.

"The three little La Push fags," Tom sneered. "Make sure you don't run into them, Paul, they'll have your ass."

Something inside me went cold. My new friends were anti-gay. I had better watch out what I said in the future and certainly what I got up to. I hadn't really thought about it since I met Melissa anyway, but then I hadn't been thinking about...

"Fucking Jacob Black and his buddies," Bobbie was saying.

I turned away from my locker, startled. He was walking down the corridor towards me with the two other guys I'd seen on the beach. He had his hair in a ponytail, a few strands escaping around his neck, his tie pulled loose and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. I had to clench my teeth together to stop my jaw dropping. It was the first time I had seen him close up in daylight and I noticed everything; russet coloured skin, glossy black hair, dark eyes with incredibly long lashes, soft lips, parted slightly. Oh shit. The only word I could think of to describe him was 'beautiful' and I just knew what I was thinking was written all over my face. I lowered my head and delved into my backpack, pretending to look for some vitally important item I had to find right at that moment. My heart was hammering.

"What the hell are you looking at, fag?" Steve demanded suddenly and I glanced up again. Jacob was looking at me and his eyes darted away and switched to Steve, his face suddenly anxious. His two friends didn't look too happy either and they all stopped walking.

"Think he's looking at you, Paul. Must have the hots for you," Tom said and suddenly moved away from us and towards them. I could only watch in horror as Tom advanced on Jacob, grabbed hold of his tie and then punched him in the stomach. He dropped to his knees, choking and Tom took a step back. "Dare to look at any of us again, you'll get more than a fist in the guts," he spat and spun around, marching back to us.

"Jacob! Jake, shit, are you alright?" His two friends helped him up and I stood there, staring into my bag and feeling like I was about to throw up as Tom slapped me on the shoulder, laughing.

"That'll teach the little fag a lesson. Fucking queers, they're everywhere."

Despite the awfulness of the situation his comment struck me funny. 'They're everywhere'. I wondered what he would think if he'd seen me with my dick in Eugene Bentley's mouth. I'd no doubt be the next one knocked to the ground and I laughed loudly, wondering if it was my imagination or if it sounded a touch hysterical. Tom and Bobbie both grinned at me, obviously thinking I was amused by Tom's treatment of Jacob. I risked a glance down the corridor again, but Jacob and his friends had disappeared. All I wanted to do was run after him, but he probably thought I was a homophobic thug like my friends and despite the fact that he had looked at me, I doubted that he even knew who I was. Much as it pained me, I felt that all I could do was let it go and forget about him.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

It didn't take me very long to change my mind about letting it go. The guys beat the subject to death through the lunch break, even after we caught up with the girls in the food hall and I began to wonder what I was doing with a bunch of such narrow-minded bigots. I was relieved when the bell rang to announce the start of afternoon lessons and I could get away from them.

I didn't actually have any classes with Tom and the others, but Jared was in virtually all of them and Jacob and his friends in a few. Right after lunch was geography and all four of them were sitting in the back, Jacob sharing a desk with the curly-haired kid and Jared with the other one with the long hair. The only spare seat was right in front of Jacob and I made my way to it, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. I glanced up just once and found Jared glaring at me. Great.

I slid into the seat and took out my books, the back of my neck prickling as I sensed eyes on me. It was going to be a very long hour. The teacher only made it longer by telling the class my name and announcing that it was my first day, then picking on me twice to answer questions. Luckily I knew the answers, but I had never been so desperate to escape anywhere before in my life. When the bell finally rang again, I shoved my books into my backpack in relief.

"You're a jerk, Paul, I warned you about those guys," Jared's voice said in my ear as he walked past my desk and I sighed heavily.

Apparently my association with Tom had already cost me a friend. I waited until the others had left the room and then got up slowly and followed. I knew I had to do something about putting things right, even if only to assuage my own guilt for standing there in silence while Tom hurt Jacob.

I headed for the lockers to exchange geography books for biology for the last lesson of the day and as I reached the corridor where the lockers were, I noticed Jared and the two guys whose names I didn't know yet head into the toilets, leaving Jacob by himself. He opened his locker and I hesitated for a moment, wanting to go and speak to him, but unsure what to say. An apology certainly wouldn't go amiss. I looked up and down the corridor somewhat furtively, establishing that Tom, Steve and Bobbie were nowhere to be seen, then I headed over to him, stopping a couple of feet away. He was busy sorting something out in the locker and didn't notice me until I spoke.

"Jacob?"

He turned to look at me quickly, his expression wary.

"What?" he asked.

"I just wanted to say sorry." It sounded pretty lame to my ears.

"You didn't do anything." He turned back to his locker, took out a text book and shoved it into his bag, then slammed the door closed.

"Exactly," I said with a grimace. "I should have."

"I guess they're your friends, you've got to stick with them."

"Well, there's some things I'm finding out about them that I'm not liking," I told him.

He didn't reply, but just looked at me. I met his eyes and then found it impossible to look away, even when I wanted to. His eyes were dark brown and they seemed to draw me in, making me want to get closer, to touch him. I bit my lip and tried to pull myself together, but I couldn't help asking him.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, of course I know. I remember your voice. I guess you don't want to be reminded of that, though." He dropped his eyes away from mine.

"I..." I don't know quite what I would have said to him; maybe something along the lines that I would never forget that kiss, but then I saw Tom appear at the end of the corridor and head towards us and I took a step away. "I'm sorry," I said again quietly and turned away from him. He walked off quickly.

"What are you doing talking to him?" Tom asked at once.

"We were hardly talking. You were right about him, I was just telling him to keep the hell away from me," I growled under my breath.

I felt sick with myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth. If I had any balls I would have just told Tom and the others to go fuck themselves, but no, I had to kiss ass like a coward. I wasn't scared of them, but I could think of a few reasons not to piss them off; they were all bigger than me and would no doubt do some damage, Melissa would break up with me if I fought with them, my Dad liked them, which meant he treated me better and the last thing I wanted was another beating from him any time soon. I decided the best thing I could do was keep out of Jacob's way, for his own good as well as mine.

With the first day out of the way, everything seemed to settle down for a while, much to my relief. I carried on dating Melissa and hanging out with the gang. Jacob, Jared and the other two who I learned were called Embry and Quil just kept away from us, but I always suffered through the geography lessons with Jacob sitting right behind me. I longed to talk to him, but I doubted he would want me to and his friends made it pretty clear they wanted nothing to do with me.

I spent as much time as I could with Melissa instead and just as I thought, pretty soon she decided she was going to sleep with me. It was the first Saturday in October and much to my surprise it was the last thing on my mind. Dad got paid on Friday and he went drinking for the first time since we came to La Push. He got in some stupid fight in a bar, came home and hit me in the head, knocking me off my feet. For once there were no visible bruises, but the next morning I was in a lousy mood and I left the house before Dad even crawled out of bed to avoid him going for me again if he felt like it.

I went to the gym which I had been going to regularly for the past few weeks and started off running on the treadmill. I ran for an hour until I was out of breath, trying to shake off my sour mood, but it wasn't working. The guys came in just as I finished and started working on the free weights, so I went to join them. They always liked to have some kind of competition to see who could bench press the most and always teased me for not being anywhere near as strong as them, even though they had about a year's head start on me. They were taking turns at doing five reps of one hundred and fifty pounds, which I didn't have a hope in hell of lifting so I simply watched, my mind drifting.

I had thought my Dad was getting better since we moved here, but the persistent ache in the side of my head told me he was always going to be taking something out on me. I scowled at the floor, considering leaving the gym and going off on my own. I would be lousy company anyway. I wasn't even particularly excited about my planned evening with Melissa and would have rather given it a miss.

"Hell, Paul, what's wrong with you?" Steve asked a moment later.

"Worried you can't compete?" Bobbie grinned. "Ok, we'll be fair - ten reps at a hundred pounds." He began removing one of the weights from the end of the bar and Tom attended to the other end. I didn't look at what they were doing; I would just get it over with and then go and take a shower.

"Here you go." Tom waved me towards the bench and I complied, ignoring the grins on their faces. They always managed to make me feel weak in comparison. I grabbed the bar, not really noticing that Steve and Bobbie both lifted it off its brackets for me.

"Ten, yeah?" I said.

"Yeah. If you can manage it." Bobbie chuckled and the pair stepped away.

I didn't bother taking my time, regardless of whether I might strain something; I just wanted to get it done. My pecs and triceps complained a little as I got to eight, but I finished the last two reps, grinding my teeth, then dropped the bar back into the cradles and sat up.

"Happy?" I grunted, expected some jeering comments.

"Fuck!" Steve gasped. The other two just stared at me in astonishment.

"What?" I got to my feet.

"Been practising in secret?" said Tom with a grin.

"What are you talking about?"

"You just pressed two hundred pounds, man!" Bobbie exclaimed. "It was supposed to be a fucking joke; the minute we let go it was supposed to land on your chest and trap you."

"Bullshit," I said, glancing at the weights on the bar none the less. He was right - there were two fifty pound discs on each end. I had no idea how I had done that; the only explanation, which was still pretty poor was that being pissed off at my Dad gave me superhuman strength. Unlikely.

I shrugged it off, making out I had been practising a little and then left them to take a shower. No one else was in the changing rooms at that moment and I paused in front of one of the mirrors, curious to see if I looked any different. I didn't make a habit of looking at myself except for a brief glance at my face each morning to make sure I didn't have a pimple or anything like that.

"Shit," I muttered to myself now. I hadn't expected myself to look the way I looked at that moment; maybe it was my imagination. I must have just been growing over the past few months and not noticed. My shoulders were broader, my pecs and the muscles in my arms defined without me actually flexing them and I had a six-pack. Where the hell did that come from? I loathed working my abs and I ate too much crap. I unwrapped the towel from my waist and stared at my firm, muscular thighs, grinning now. I guessed I must just be lucky. Melissa was sure going to get a treat later. I began to look forward to seeing her after all.

My mood improved considerably and I went to get dressed, realising the clean t-shirt I had packed, one I hadn't worn in a while, was at least a size too small. The other guys were still working out and I left the gym and wandered around Forks for a while, then took the bus home to kill a few hours and change the t-shirt for a nicer shirt. Might as well make an effort for Melissa since the rest of me was looking so cool all of a sudden.

Dad was still drunk. He must have got out of bed and opened another bottle for breakfast. I managed to escape trouble only by dodging him as he lurched off the couch and tried to grab me.

"Where the hell are you going?" he yelled at me. "Get back in here!"

I slammed the door to the house and walked away quickly, wondering what to do with myself until it was time to go back into town. My mood was ruined again and I headed down to the beach where I spent most of the afternoon, sitting on the rocks where I had kissed Jacob and thinking. I found myself wishing he would turn up so I could talk to him, but the beach was deserted except for a couple of kids with a dog and eventually I left and went to catch the bus to Forks again.

Melissa's parents were out for the evening and she had cooked a meal for us; just something simple, she said, but I barely noticed what it was as I shovelled it down my neck. I wondered what I was doing there, planning to have sex for the first time in my life when I was in one of the worst moods ever. I knew I shouldn't have gone ahead with it, but I just went along with everything until we were in her room lying on her bed, clothes scattered everywhere. She kept kissing and touching me and despite my frame of mind, my dick wasn't about to disappoint. Melissa pulled open the drawer in her bed table and a moment later handed me a condom. I'd never had cause to use one, but I'd practised putting them on after we were given some free ones in sex-ed about a year ago so at least I didn't look as if I had no clue what I was doing.

I didn't really worry too much. Melissa hadn't said so, but I was certain she'd done it before from the way she behaved. I plunged ahead and was then surprised when she yelped in pain and dug her nails into my shoulders as if she meant to rip my skin off. Guessing it was too late by then, I carried on for the couple of minutes it took for me to get off and when I pulled back and discarded the condom I noticed there was blood on it.

"Jesus, Paul, a little finesse wouldn't hurt!" Melissa exclaimed, sitting up and grabbing for her panties. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not a mind-reader, Mel, you could have told me you've never done it before!" I snapped. I couldn't help it. I was still pissed. More so actually, because I knew I shouldn't have done it while I was in such a mood and in addition I felt guilty for hurting her.

She glared at me. "Are you calling me a slut?"

"I didn't say that."

"You may as well have. You expected me to have already been with someone."

"Well, I'm sorry, you act like you have," I muttered. I got up and began to get dressed.

"You bastard!" she hissed. "I thought you cared about me."

"I do care about you," I said. "And believe it or not, I never did it before either."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. I fooled around with a few people, that's it."

"I thought you had a girlfriend for nearly a year back in Tacoma." Her temper seemed to have been taken over by curiosity and I calmed down a touch.

"Yeah, I did, but she wouldn't sleep with me. Not until she was eighteen, she said."

"You don't seem like the patient type," Melissa commented.

"Well, that's why we split. I cheated," I confessed.

To my surprise, Melissa actually laughed. "I thought you said you never did it though."

"I didn't, but I did plenty of other stuff."

"You know, maybe we should just try this again," she said now. "Maybe not right now, I'm kind of...uncomfortable. But I guess you could show me what 'other stuff' you like doing."

Considering my reluctance to even see her that night to begin with and the rather disastrous sex, things took a surprising turn and Melissa sucked my dick, somewhat tentatively at first and I had to admit she wasn't a patch on Eugene Bentley, but he had obviously had plenty of practise. When I eventually caught the bus home, I was pretty happy about things and even my Dad demanding that I make him some supper when I got in failed to dampen my mood.

However, when I fell into bed and closed my eyes, rather than thinking of Melissa who I had just had sex with, the face that kept coming into my mind was Jacob's. It seemed that I was never going to be able to forget about him and as I lay there it was him that I imagined myself kissing. I could almost feel the soft heat of his mouth on mine, the way his hair felt when I ran my fingers through it, the way he smelled. I pictured myself on the beach with him, holding him close to me, my dick hard and threatening to burst out of my pants. Jacob was hard too; I could feel it against my thigh and I slid my hand down to touch him while my tongue continued to explore his mouth. I grasped my erection and began to jerk myself off slowly, imagining it was his hand on me and when I finished, I realised I'd enjoyed that little fantasy a lot more than I enjoyed actually doing it with my girlfriend.

Somehow I had to have Jacob. Whatever it cost me, I had to get close to him again or I was going to drive myself crazy. Even if all I got was just one more kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

It was two weeks later that everything in my life came to a head and finally began to go in the direction I wanted. It all started with detention. I was in one of my customary foul moods after a fight with my Dad the minute I got out of bed and then a fight with Melissa in the lunch break.

Right after I realised I wanted Jacob more than Melissa and that my feelings weren't going to change, I intended to break up with her, but I didn't see her over the following weekend because she was away visiting with her family and then for the next few days I only saw her at school and I would rather have talked to her in a slightly more private environment. It was rarely just the two of us at school, but almost always the whole gang. I didn't want to break up with her over the phone either, that was just cowardly. Consequently I got more and more tense and ended up fighting with her for nothing more than her asking me to take her to see some lame chick's movie which I had no intention of doing. The bell rang and interrupted our bickering and I stormed off to my English class, quickly earning myself an after school detention by talking back to the teacher twice during the lesson.

It was Friday, the day every kid hates to get after school detentions and after the final lesson of the day - history, which hadn't done much to improve my mood - I slouched off to the theatre where they usually held detentions, wondering if I would be stuck on my own or if there would be other kids in there that I could glare at or take my temper out on if the tutor stepped outside for a few minutes.

I climbed up to the back row of seats and threw myself onto one of them, dropping my backpack on the floor beside me. Then I straightened up again, shrugged my leather jacket off and wrenched my tie loose. I was so hot; they must have cranked the heating up or something.

"Mr Lahote, do you have homework to be getting on with?" Mr Stanley asked sternly as he looked up from the newspaper he was reading. He was sitting on a chair in front of the stage, one leg crossed over the other.

"Yes, Sir," I grunted, dragging my history book out of my bag. Might as well get the worst one out of the way if I had to sit here and work.

"Good; be silent while you're at it."

"Not like there's anyone to talk to," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Sir." I opened the book and scowled at a chapter on World War II. What the hell use were the details of Germany's invasion of Poland going to be to me in the future?

The door to the theatre swung open, presumably to admit another criminal. I didn't bother to look up, even as footsteps mounted the steps towards the back of the theatre.

"You're late, Mr Black," old Stanley said severely.

"Sorry, Sir."

I jerked my head up in surprise as Jacob took a seat on the row in front of me, a couple of places to my right. My bad mood vanished in an instant and I lowered my head again and smiled at Hitler's photograph. After another minute I raised my eyes and glanced first at Mr Stanley. He was hidden behind his newspaper and taking no notice of either of us. It became clear there was no one else for the detention session and I looked down at Jacob again. As usual he had his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows, his hair pulled back into a ponytail. He rested his head on one hand as he studied a text book and I noticed a leather thong tied around his wrist.

I took in every little detail - the colour of his skin in stark contrast to the white shirt; fine dark hairs on the back of his arm; the shape of his cheekbone and jaw as he dropped his hand away from his face and turned a page of his book. A loose strand of hair fell into his face and he tucked it behind his ear. I wondered if he could feel my eyes on him and found myself willing him to turn around and look at me. He didn't and I made an effort to look at the history chapter again, but I knew I wasn't going to take in a single word. My heart was thumping with nervous excitement and I longed for the end of detention so I could try talking to him.

The theatre door opened once more to admit my geography teacher.

"Sorry, Bernard, the Head wants to see us all for ten minutes," he said.

Mr Stanley put his paper down and shoved his spectacles up his nose, then got to his feet.

"You two - no talking, no moving, no fooling around. I'll be back in ten." He left the theatre and the door closed behind him.

I snorted quietly and immediately Jacob turned to look at me. At last!

"Hey," I said, trying to calm myself down. "What are you in for?"

"Forgetting my Math homework for the second time this week," he said with a grimace. "You?"

"Talking back to my English teacher. I'll get it in the neck when I get home too, when my Dad finds out."

"My Dad's not expecting me until later and he's pretty easy going," Jacob said.

I couldn't quite believe my luck; he seemed to not mind talking to me.

"Is it just you and your Dad?" I prompted.

"Yeah."

"Me too," I said. "Mom left when I was eight; they got divorced. What about you?"

"My Mom was killed in a car wreck when I was nine," Jacob said, turning away a little again.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," I groaned.

"It's ok."

"That must have been really tough though," I said.

"Yeah, but me and my Dad are real close now. Do you ever see your Mom?" he asked, turning to look at me again.

"No, she moved out of state with some other guy. Dad would never let me see her," I told him.

"What about what you want?"

"What anybody else wants doesn't figure in my Dad's world," I said wrily and decided to change the subject. "So what do you normally do on Friday nights?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said your Dad wouldn't be expecting you yet," I reminded him.

"Oh...yeah. Usually I hang out with Embry and Quil for a few hours. We go down to the beach mostly, but it's getting pretty cold for that now."

"Guess it wouldn't be today," I said. "I'd love to go swimming right now, it's way too hot in here."

"You're hot? Are you sick with something?" Jacob said, his eyebrows rising slightly.

"No, it just feels like a sauna in here."

"It's just the usual temperature."

Maybe it was. Maybe I was just hot because he was sitting five feet away and actually talking to me. My mouth suddenly felt dry too and in the absence of anything to drink, I pulled a pack of gum out of my pocket and unwrapped a strip.

"Do you want some of this?" I offered.

"Ok. Thanks."

I shoved the gum into my mouth, plucked another strip from the pack and leaned over to put it into his outstretched hand. My fingers touched his palm for a fraction of a second before I pulled back.

"Woah, you are hot," he said. "Are you sure you're not coming down with something?"

"I don't think so."

The theatre door opened and Jacob turned back to his desk quickly as Mr Stanley came back in, eyeing us suspiciously before he went back to his newspaper. I glanced at my wristwatch. Still over forty minutes to go. I sighed heavily, blew my gum out as far as it would go and made it pop loudly. Jacob sniggered.

"Silence!" Stanley's voice came from behind the newspaper and it was my turn to stifle a laugh. The newspaper lowered slowly. "If I hear either of you so much as _breathe_ in the next...forty-one minutes, you'll be back here every night next week. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Jacob said.

I merely nodded and chewed my lip, staring at the back of him and allowing myself to slip into a daydream. The school buses were long gone, which meant both of us would have to catch the town bus back to La Push. That would give me an extra hour to talk to him. I carried on watching him, imagining myself shifting to the seat next to him, leaning over to kiss his ear, pulling him closer to me. His face seemed to have a little more colour in it than before and I wondered if he sensed the way I was looking at him.

Somehow the remainder of the detention period passed fairly painlessly and Stanley folded his paper and suggested we leave quietly and do our best to avoid being in his company after school again. I put my jacket on out of habit - I was still too hot - and hooked my backpack over one shoulder as we walked out of the school grounds. Jacob didn't seem inclined to escape my company and now pulled a sweatshirt with a hood out of his bag and put it on. The town bus stop was about three blocks up the street and we walked there quickly, only to find there was a fifteen minute wait for the next bus.

"I can't wait to get my drivers' permit," I said. "No more buses! If I can ever afford a car."

"When are you sixteen?" Jacob asked.

"January seventh."

"Mine's the fourteenth."

"No kidding!"

At that moment my cellphone rang and I pulled it out of my pants pocket, thinking my Dad was probably hunting me down. It was Melissa. Shit. I didn't want to talk to her after our fight earlier and I didn't want my time with Jacob interrupting either. I pressed the 'reject' button, deciding I would see her in person the next day and finish it. I switched the phone off then and shoved it back into my pocket. When I looked back at Jacob he was leaning against the post with the bus stop sign on it, his arms wrapped around himself as if he were cold.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, just cold."

"Here." I shrugged my jacket off without a second thought. I was still hot enough to be sweating. "Put this on." I held it out to him.

"No, I'm fine, really, there's no point you freezing too."

"I'm still too hot, I was going to take it off anyway."

"Ok." He took the jacket and pulled it on. "Thank you. You know, if your friends pass by they're not going to be too impressed to see you talking to me."

"The hell with them," I said and meant it. I was doing what I really wanted to do for the first time in weeks. "Let them think what they like."

"You don't want to piss that bunch of knuckleheads off if you can avoid it," Jacob said.

"Maybe it's them that should try not to piss me off." I thought of my astonishing episode with the two hundred pound weights and figured that if Tom and the others had a problem with me talking to Jacob, I could handle them. They didn't seem so big and strong any more.

"I am really sorry about what happened on my first day here," I went on.

"You already said that," Jacob reminded me.

"I know, but I was a total jerk. Jared warned me about those guys and I ignored him."

"I guess you redeemed yourself a little bit." He indicated the jacket and I smiled at him.

We chatted for a few more minutes until the bus came and then climbed aboard. It was half full, but the long back seat was empty and we made our way down there. Jacob sat in the right hand corner by the window and I took the next place. The usually long and slow bus ride passed by remarkably quickly for once. We talked more or less none stop for the entire hour about all manner of things. I just avoided the subject of my friends and Melissa and luckily he didn't ask anything about them. I was disappointed when the bus pulled up outside the gas station and we had to get off. I had enjoyed the past couple of hours more than anything I'd done since I moved to La Push.

"Where do you live?" I asked as the bus took off and left us.

"About a half mile that way," Jacob said, pointing. "I guess I better give you your jacket back." He dropped his backpack on the ground to take the jacket off.

"Keep it on, or you'll freeze walking home," I said. "I'll just walk that way with you and then you can give me it back."

"That's nuts, you live in the other direction," Jacob said, grabbing his bag again and setting off none the less.

"You know where I live?" I said in surprise as I caught him up.

"Yeah. Everybody knows everything that goes on here, just about. My Dad makes it his business to know."

It took us another ten minutes to reach his house; another ten minutes that I could talk to him and look at him and listen to his voice. I dreaded the moment when I would have to walk away and go home.

"This is my house," he said suddenly, halting at the end of a short driveway. A large truck took up most of the parking area. He slid his arms out of my jacket and handed it to me. "Thanks," he added.

"What are you doing over the weekend?" I asked, wondering if I could find some way to see him again before Monday.

"I'm going into Forks tomorrow with my Dad," he said. "One of his best friends is the chief of police, Charlie Swan. They spend some time together as often as they can and Charlie's daughter moved here a few weeks ago from Phoenix. I used to know her when we were kids so we're going to catch up."

"Old flame?" I said. I couldn't help myself. It was a stupid thing to say.

"Hardly, I haven't seen her since before my Mom died. Anyway, I'm gay; don't you listen to anything your friends tell you?"

I grinned now. "I wondered if that kiss on the beach was just an experiment."

"It was, but it kind of told me what I already thought I knew."

Hell, if there was ever the right moment to kiss him again, that was it. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself if my life depended on it. I lifted my hand and rested it on his neck, sliding my fingers under his hair. His skin felt much cooler than mine. I leaned closer and noticed his eyes lowered slowly, his lips parting a second before mine touched them. My heart lurched as I caressed his lips gently with mine and I held my breath, wanting time to stop so I could go on and on kissing him.

It could only have been seconds before he put his hand on my chest and pushed me away, his eyes still lowered.

"Don't," he said softly. "I'm not doing this with you."

My hand was still on his neck and I moved it to his chin, making him raise his head and look at me. His eyes were sad as they met mine.

"Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you want to," I said.

"You have a girlfriend," Jacob reminded me, taking a step backwards. "And friends who already hate me; they'll turn on you too if they find out."

"Let them," I said. "Look, I'm going to deal with all of them. I know you probably don't trust me, but give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not fooling around." I moved closer to him again, dying to touch him, but restraining myself with difficulty. "I hardly even know you, Jacob, but I care more about what you think of me than anyone else." I brushed my lips against his cheek. "I'll see you Monday." I turned away and walked off in the direction of home, a smile on my face which refused to be wiped off. I knew Jacob was watching me leave; I could feel his eyes on me and it sent a shiver down my spine. Finally I had made up my mind to do what I really wanted and stop being such a jerk.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

I was relieved to find that my Dad still wasn't home from work when I got in; or maybe he had simply gone straight to a bar. At least he wasn't likely to find out I had detention. I threw my bag and jacket into my room, kicked my boots off and raided the refrigerator. There wasn't much in there so I made some grilled cheese and a mug of coffee and sprawled on the sofa, thinking about Jacob. It seemed an awfully long time until Monday and I still had to talk to Melissa.

"Shit," I muttered, remembering she had called me earlier. I pulled my cellphone out and switched it on. Three missed calls and two text messages. I read the last one only, sent just minutes before.

'Where the hell are you?'

"Nice," I said. I sent her a message back. 'I was in detention. Will call you tomorrow.'

She didn't reply and I put her out of my mind, switched on the television and went back to thinking about Jacob. Our lips had only touched for a few seconds before he pushed me away and I felt as if it had scrambled my brain. I giggled to myself, unable to wipe the smirk off my face and thinking it was a good thing no one could see me.

My Dad didn't come home all night and he still wasn't in when I set off to catch the bus just after nine in the morning. I had already called Melissa and told her I was going into Forks to see her. She was sulky, but agreed for me to go around to her house since her parents had already gone out. I got there just after ten-fifteen and rang the bell.

"Hey, Paul." Melissa actually gave me a smile as she opened the door and I began to feel like a bit of a shit for what I was about to do. Still, there was no point in me dragging it out. We went and sat down in the lounge room and she offered me some coffee.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not staying long," I said.

"Great. You only just got here. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just fed up," I said. "Of everything. The gang and all their shit."

"And me?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't say that exactly, but I think we should break up," I told her.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No. I just don't want to be with you any more."

"So have you got someone else, then?" She pursed her lips up and scowled at me.

"Not exactly."

"What he hell does that mean? That you want someone else? That you'll go after her when you get rid of me? That's real nice, Paul!"

I stood up again. "Yeah, I do want someone else. At least I'm going about it the right way instead of cheating on you."

"Oh, that makes it alright then." She jumped to her feet and glared at me. "Get out. Go and tell your little slut, whoever she is, that you're all free and single again. Seems like I had a lucky escape."

A minute later I was walking down the street away from her house, thinking that it had gone a lot better than I expected, when I ran into Tom. He was usually in the gym on Saturday mornings, but he was carrying two paper sacks of groceries.

"Hey, Paul." He stopped for a moment. "Been to Mel's?"

"Yeah."

"Leaving already? Did you stay over?" he grinned.

"No. We broke up," I said, guessing he would soon hear it from Kate anyway once Melissa called her.

"What? Shit, what happened? Did you piss her off?"

"Oh, I like how it has to be because of something I did," I grumbled.

"Well, did you?"

"No! I ended it."

"What the fuck?" Tom's mouth fell open. "Why the hell would you break up with someone like Melissa? Half the kids in school are jealous of you for being with her."

"Yeah, well it wasn't working."

"You better not have fucked her up, Paul," Tom said then. "Are you seeing someone else?"

"No, I'm not. Yet. Not that it's anything to do with you," I snapped.

"It has plenty to do with me and the others. Anyone messes with one of us, they have the rest to answer to."

"Fair enough. Then I guess I'll be catching up with the rest of you soon enough."

I shrugged, shoved my hands into my pockets and walked off, leaving him standing there with his groceries. A couple of people eyed me strangely as I passed them and I straightened my face quickly, realising I was grinning to myself like an idiot.

I went to catch the bus back to La Push and then spent a few hours on the beach hoping I might see Jacob, but although I walked miles, I didn't see another soul and I remembered he was spending the day in Forks with the police chief's daughter. I went home half way through the afternoon and found my Dad in the kitchen drinking strong black coffee.

"Hey, Dad," I said, hoping he wasn't still hungover or mad about something. He turned to look at me.

"Not seeing Melissa today?"

"No. We broke up," I said.

"Oh? I thought you two were pretty well suited," Dad said. "She's a lovely girl."

"Yeah, well it's over."

"I hope you haven't been fooling around with...uh...boys again," Dad growled, grimacing as if he had a nasty taste in his mouth.

"No." I left him to his coffee, thinking that any time soon I was likely to have a different answer to that.

Sunday crawled by. I didn't see anyone and no one called me. I didn't have Jacob's number otherwise I would have been tempted to call him. Instead I did all my homework properly for about the first time ever. Usually I ended up scribbling away in a frenzy on the school bus on Monday mornings. Dad treated us to takeout for supper and then I went back to my room and spent the evening listening to music and watching the clock creep around towards eleven which was the time I usually went to bed. I gave up when it reached ten and crashed early, hoping to get an extra hour's sleep to pass the time.

By the time I went to catch the bus to school on Monday, I was filled with nervous excitement. I couldn't wait to see Jacob, but much to my disappointment he was nowhere to be seen. Embry and Quil were waiting for the bus and I walked over to them.

"Where's Jacob?" I asked.

"What's it to you?" Quil looked at me and frowned.

"I was just wondering."

"He's keeping out of your way," Embry said with a sneer.

"Why?" My heart plummeted and I wouldn't have been surprised to see it lying on the ground in front of me.

"He's just going to be in late, that's all, he went to the hospital with his Dad," Quil said then.

"Oh, is he ok?" I asked.

Both of them looked at me as if I'd descended from another planet.

"It's his diabetes, he has to have regular check ups," Embry said.

"Jacob's diabetic?" I gasped.

"His Dad, you moron," snorted Quil.

"Oh, ok." I took my cellphone out and pretended fascination with a non-existent text message, aware that the pair of them were still staring at me in disbelief. I should probably have held my tongue and just waited until I saw Jacob.

For once the bus was late and by the time we reached school, there was only time to run in and get to the first class so I didn't see anything of Tom and the others or of Melissa, much to my relief. I was too keen to see Jacob to be thinking about any potential fall out from my break up with Melissa right at that moment.

Jacob still hadn't turned up by lunch time and when I overheard Embry and Quil saying they were going to spend the break in the library, I decided to follow them. I doubted they would appreciate me hanging around, but I supposed I ought to try and let them see I could be a decent guy if I was going to spend any time with Jacob.

The library was on the second floor overlooking the front of the school. Embry and Quil sat down at a table in front of the window and I grabbed a random book from a shelf and wandered over.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked, indicating the two empty chairs at the table.

Embry eyed the other half dozen free tables in the area and raised his eyebrows. "I guess."

"Thanks." I pulled the chair out next to the window and sat down.

"I thought you'd be in the food hall with your _friends_," Quil said.

"I don't really think they're my friends any more," I said, opening the book I had picked up. It was a history book. I couldn't help grinning at the irony.

"Interesting reading?" asked Embry.

"Not in the least." I closed it again and looked out of the window, wondering what to talk to them about. Then I saw Jacob walking in the gate. His hair was loose for once and he was wearing jeans, boots and a fleece jacket. "Jacob's here," I said.

"Yeah, cool," Quil said absently, his nose in his own book now.

I watched as Jacob came into the yard, his hair whirling around him in the strong breeze. I wanted to run my fingers through it and I smiled to myself again as I looked at him. He came closer to the building and then halted suddenly as if someone had approached him. Because of the height of the window I couldn't see who, but he took a step backwards. I stood up to see better and peered downwards.

"Shit!"

"What?" Embry looked up and Quil got to his feet, following my eyes.

"Those asshole friends of Paul's are bothering Jacob," Quil said.

"Like I said, they're not my friends. Not any more," I grunted, shoving the window open and looking out. I couldn't hear what they were saying down there because there was noise from elsewhere; kids shouting and laughing and running around. But I could see what was happening and as I watched, Tom shoved Jacob hard in the chest, making him stagger backwards, almost falling, saved only by the fact that he collided with Bobbie. Bobbie in turn pushed him back the other way so that he hit the wall.

"Fuckers!" hissed Quil. "We need to get down there, come on, Embry."

Embry leaped to his feet, knocking his chair over and I hesitated for a moment, wondering how long it was going to take them to run down the four flights of stairs, out of the building and around to the other side. Too long. I climbed onto my chair and put a foot on the window sill. It wasn't that far down. I lifted my other foot up beside the first and held onto the frame.

"What the hell are you doing, Paul?" Quil said, pausing half way to the door.

"Don't worry about me, get down the stairs," I told him. I didn't waste any more time thinking, but launched myself off the sill. In the brief moment of time during which I plummeted past two sets of windows, I wondered how many bones I would break if I landed wrong, but then my feet hit the ground and I was in a crouch right beside Tom.

"Fuck me!" he gasped, stepping back.

I straightened up cautiously, amazed that nothing hurt. Tom and the others were a couple of inches taller than me, or least they had been. Now I found myself eye to eye with Tom without having to look up. Weird.

"Leave him alone," I said quietly.

"What? You're taking up for this fag now?" Bobbie said incredulously, cuffing Jacob around the head. I reached out to grab Jacob's arm and pulled him away from them.

"Back off," I said to Bobbie. "You want to pick on someone, try me."

"You were gonna be next," Steve said now. "You know Melissa was around our place last night crying to Patty after you shit on her."

"I doubt it," I said. "She's probably glad to see the back of me."

"Well, why did you break up with her, Paul? Turning queer like your new friend?" Bobbie said.

"What if I am? What the hell has it to do with you?" I snapped. "It's the twenty-first century, Bobbie, it's not like they still hang you for it."

"Fuck, you are gay, aren't you?" Tom said. "Shit! The number of times we showered together and stuff at the gym..."

I couldn't help laughing now. "Get over yourself," I snorted. "You might think you're God's gift to the entire population, Tom, but you don't do it for me."

His face twisted into a grimace and he launched himself at me, but surprisingly Bobbie and Steve both grabbed him and held him back.

"Leave it, Tom, it's not worth it," Steve said. "They're welcome to each other."

The three of them glared at me for a few more seconds and then all began to walk away, just as Embry and Quil arrived at a run. I ignored them and turned towards Jacob where he stood by the wall behind me.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah; thanks." He laughed nervously. "You know you just asked for a whole load of trouble from those jerks though."

"I don't care, it's been a long time coming."

"What about your girlfriend? They said you broke up with her?"

"Yeah, on Saturday," I said. "I told you I was going to sort things out."

He smiled and then looked up at the building above us. "Did you really just jump out of that window?"

I followed his gaze and realised it looked incredibly high up from down on the ground.

"Uh...yeah, I guess I did."

"You're crazy."

I lowered my eyes again and met his. "It was the fastest way to get to you."

"Paul!"

I jumped and turned to look at Jared who had just arrived and was now glowering at me. Much to my surprise, he grabbed hold of my wrist and dragged me away from the others. The first thing I noticed was that his hand was like steel and I had no choice but to follow him. He halted out of earshot of everyone and let go of me.

"What the hell were you doing, jumping out the window, drawing attention to yourself like that?"

"Huh? What?" I stared at him in surprise. "You'd rather I just left Jacob to get beat up by those dickheads again?"

"Stay away from Jacob," Jared growled at me. "All you've done since you got here is cause trouble for him."

"It's nothing to do with you," I snapped.

"It has plenty to do with me. We look after each other and you're fucking with his head. He likes you."

"Yeah, well I like him. Why do you think I split with Melissa and walked away from my so-called friends?"

Jared's eyes narrowed. "Don't even think about it," he said. "Jacob's better off without you."

"Don't you think that's up to him?" I was suddenly furious, even more so than I had been with Tom's gang. It was nothing to do with Jared. From what I'd seen he and Jacob weren't even that close. Embry and Quil were Jacob's friends and Jared just seemed to tag along every so often when he felt like it.

"Mind your own fucking business!" I snarled at him now.

"Calm down," Jared said quietly.

"Go to hell!" No one was going to get between me and Jacob again. Certainly not Jared. My rage rolled inside me like a ball of fire and I broke out in a sweat, my whole body quivering.

"Paul, listen to me. You have to relax, right now. Take a deep breath."

I was looking into Jared's eyes which seemed strangely black and for some reason I felt that I had no choice but to do as he said, damn him. I took a deep breath and then another. Gradually I stopped shaking and the heat began to leave me. Jared heaved a sigh of relief.

"Come with me," he said.

"What? Where? What about school?" I protested.

"There's someone you have to meet."

"Can't it wait until we finish for the day?"

"No."

"What about Jacob?" I protested.

"Leave him alone."

"I have to talk to him," I said.

"Well, it's too late, he's gone off with Embry and Quil."

I looked over my shoulder and discovered that the three had indeed disappeared. Sighing, I began to walk with Jared as he led me towards the school gates.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To see Sam Uley."

"Who?"

"Stop asking so many questions."

Jared met my eyes again and I found myself biting my tongue and doing as I was told. I didn't seem to be able to argue with him. It was a mystery to me, but no more than my recent growth in both height and muscle and my ability to bench press two hundred pounds and jump out of second storey windows without injury. Maybe this Sam Uley, whoever he was, would have some kind of explanation for me.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Jared and I took the bus back to La Push. We didn't speak much on the journey and I sat there thinking about Jacob, hoping he wasn't going to get any more problems from the jerks I had once called friends. By the time we reached Sam Uley's house on the edge of La Push by the woods, it was almost two o'clock.

"Who is this guy, anyway?" I tried one more time to get something out of Jared, but he wasn't telling me a thing.

"Paul, don't stare when you see his girlfriend," he said as we climbed the steps to the door. "She has some scars. You'll upset him if it's obvious you're looking."

"Fine; whatever," I shrugged.

Jared knocked on the door of the house, then opened it and walked in.

"Jared! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

A girl of about eighteen or nineteen smiled at him and I immediately noticed three terrible scars down the side of her face; they looked like claw marks. I quickly looked at her eyes instead.

"Emily, this is Paul," Jared introduced. "We need to see Sam; is he here?"

"Yes, he's working through the back," she said. "Make yourselves at home, I'll go get him." She left the room.

"What happened to her?" I whispered to Jared.

"Sshh. Not now."

I sat down on the sofa with a sigh, then got up again as a guy walked into the room. He was a little taller and more muscular than me, with short black hair and dark eyes and he didn't look particularly friendly.

"Sam, this is Paul," Jared said.

Sam eyed me up and down and I felt strangely nervous. He intimidated me for some reason, more than anyone I'd ever met aside from my Dad.

"Paul." Sam stuck his hand out and I put mine into it to shake. His skin was hotter even than mine and his grip so firm that I thought he might break my fingers. He let go after a second and then smiled. "Relax, I don't bite." He shot a sudden grin at Jared, which instantly made him look more approachable.

"I'll leave you to it," Jared said and made his way to the kitchen where Emily had gone. "Hey, Em, what have you got to eat?" He closed the door behind him.

Sam dropped into an armchair and hooked one ankle over his knee. I sat down on the sofa once again.

"Why am I here?" I asked. The last few minutes had been pretty strange and weirder still was the feeling that Sam was to be some kind of mentor - like a father figure or boss or something.

"You're a Lahote, Jared told me," Sam said. "Moved here recently?"

"Yes, at the beginning of the summer."

"Your Dad grew up here?"

"Yeah."

"And has he told you anything about his past?"

"A bit. Why?"

"Anything about the history of our tribe?"

"Yes. I had this girlfriend back in Tacoma who was fascinated by it, so Dad told me stories about...uh..."

"Shape-shifters," Sam said. "The last of them were in our great-grandparents' time."

"You're saying that like it's true." I almost laughed, but bit my lip. He wasn't joking. His face was as serious as if he were about to tell me someone had died.

"Jared says you've suddenly grown taller; more muscular. Performed some stunt jumping out a window."

Now I did laugh. "I was just lucky. I wanted to help a friend who was getting bullied."

"Paul, this isn't a joke," said Sam calmly. "You are a descendant of the Uley family. My great-grandfather and your great-grandmother had the same father..."

"Wait, you're losing me," I said. "Are you saying we're related?"

"Very distantly."

"I always knew this place was inbred," I muttered and then a new thought struck me - a pretty worrying one. "Am I related to the Blacks?"

"No," Sam frowned. "Not even a little bit. Why is that important?"

"It's not. Never mind. Sorry."

I inwardly heaved a sigh of relief and did my best to concentrate on what he was telling me. All of it kind of made sense but at the same time was unbelievable. The shape-shifter legend wasn't just a legend; it was real and I was one of them, or about to become one of them. The heat, my sudden growth and strength and my almost uncontrollable rage when Jared had dragged me away from Jacob - all of it indicated I had very little time left before I became..._a wolf. _The whole point was to protect the people of La Push and Forks from vampires, who were expected to be coming through Washington in the not too distant future. After that, the whole conversation began to seem like some weird dream. I didn't believe in vampires - not one bit - but then again, if I was about to turn into a wolf and run around on four legs howling at the moon, were vampires really so strange? It was all going to take a while to sink in.

"Does my Dad know about this? About me?" I asked.

"No, but he will; one of the elders will talk to him, or maybe Billy Black. You do not talk to anyone about this. It stays within the pack."

"Ok."

"There's something else," Sam said, his frown deepening. "You've seen Emily's...scars."

His eyes closed briefly and he looked as if he were in physical pain. He took a deep breath and looked up at me again.

"Was that one of the...shape-shifters?" I asked.

"It was me." Another grimace. "You have to be very careful if you're close to someone. If you lose your temper and you're standing too near them, you can hurt them; even kill them. Emily forgave me for that, but I still have to live with it; I'll never forgive myself."

"Shit," I whispered, immediately thinking about Jacob.

"You just have to learn to control it," Sam went on. "Initially you can phase at a moment's notice if you're mad or upset about something. You get a little warning, but not much. A ball of heat inside you, making you feel like you're going to explode; shaking, narrowing of vision. That can all happen in a second, but if you're aware of it, you can stop it."

I nodded. That was exactly what happened at school. If Jared hadn't succeeded in getting me to calm down I could have injured him. I shuddered.

"Who else is there? Jared is one, right?" I said.

"Yeah. He's my Beta; second in command. When I'm not around, he leads."

"I got that part," I said, remembering how I'd been unable to argue with him.

"You know Embry Call?" Sam said then.

"Yeah, he's in some of my classes."

"He's my half-brother; we think he'll be next. Probably Quil Ateara too - his great-grandfather shifted. And Jacob Black. Maybe the Clearwater boy..."

"So, if you know who's going to join the pack, can't they know about it?" I interrupted, interested that Jacob was going to be like me.

"No. Because none of it's certain. We don't want a dozen boys who may or may not shift knowing about us. Only after they show signs of it."

"Shit," I muttered. "Jacob's my...friend."

"Well, this is one thing you don't talk to him about. If you can't keep it to yourself, don't see him," Sam said firmly.

"Ok," I said. Great. Just as what I had wanted for so long was about to happen, I had to start out by keeping this huge secret from him and in addition, risk losing my temper and hurting him. For a moment - only a moment - I considered stopping it before it started, but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from him. I would just have to learn to control myself.

Jared and I left shortly after and then he began to talk to me, almost as if I was one of his best friends all of a sudden, except that he tried to convince me his earlier suggestion that I stay away from Jacob was for our own good.

"Listen," I said. "I understand the danger. But I'm less likely to lose it with Jacob than anybody else I know," I said. "Don't you think there's more of a risk of me changing and hurting Tom Stewart and his bunch of assholes? If you think I'm a risk to everyone, then how can I even go to school any more? Be near anyone?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sam told me hang out with you as much as I can, at least until you phased a few times and you have some control."

"Well, you stopped it happening earlier," I reminded him. "I can live with that." I looked at my wristwatch suddenly, wondering how long we had been out of school and was surprised to find the afternoon classes had already finished and the school bus would be on its way back to La Push. "I have to go," I said.

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded at Jared and took off, reasoning that I had just about enough time to get over to the other side of the reservation where the school bus stopped and catch up with Jacob when he got off it. He must have been wondering where I'd got to all afternoon. I broke into a run and made it about five minutes before the bus. I could see it in the distance coming down the road from the higher ground between La Push and Forks. Immediately I was filled with excitement at the thought of seeing Jacob and the events of my bizarre afternoon went out of my head. I fidgeted at the bus stop until the vehicle halted and everyone began to scramble off. I could see Embry, Quil and Jacob at the back and they were last off the bus. Jacob spotted me at once, said goodbye to the other two and came over to me.

"Hey, where did you get to?" he asked.

"I skipped class," I said, thinking quickly. "I lost my temper over those guys messing with you; I thought I better go off and calm down." At least part of that was true although I still felt shitty for not being able to tell him everything. I changed the subject. "How's your Dad?"

"Good. I didn't tell you he's diabetic, did I? He has to go to the hospital for blood tests and stuff every few months. I forgot all about the appointment until Sunday. I would have called you, but I don't know your number."

"Do you have a cellphone?" I asked.

"Sure."

Jacob pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket. I took it from him and entered my number in the contacts, then sent myself a text so I would also have his number. I gave him the phone back and then grasped hold of his hand. I wasn't sure if he would pull away or not, but his fingers curled around mine and I saw him smile although he didn't look at me. I glanced around us and realised the street was now deserted. The kids from the bus had scattered and it was already dark with winter on the doorstep. There was a large wooden bus shelter set back from the edge of the road and I drew Jacob into it. I let go of his hand and brushed his hair out of his face, then bent to kiss him, noticing that I was a couple of inches taller than him now, where I hadn't been before.

His face was cold, but his lips warm as they responded eagerly to my kiss and I slid my arms around him, pulling him tight against me. He almost seemed to melt in my arms, his arms tight around my back, his tongue heatedly exploring in response to mine plunging into his mouth. I slid my hand between us and pulled down the zipper of the fleece jacket he was wearing, slid my hand beneath it and around to his back. I found myself more excited than I'd ever been in my life; I was rock hard and I couldn't stop myself grinding my body against his, dipping my hand lower until my fingers slipped beneath the low waistband of his jeans, feeling the jersey fabric of his underwear and the firm flesh of his butt. He moaned into my mouth, the nails of one hand digging into my neck and as I moved against him I felt he was just as aroused as I was.

I had to force myself to slow things down again, remembering where we were. The street was deserted at that moment, but someone could soon turn up and catch us. I drew my mouth away from his reluctantly and slid my hand up his back again, just hugging him, stroking my hand through his hair.

"We should get out of here," I murmured, wishing I had somewhere I could take him. We could hardly go to my place - my Dad wouldn't let us in my room and would probably go crazy at me anyway, just for taking a boy home, even if all we did was sit in the kitchen and eat dinner. If only I could drive and had a car.

"Do you have to get home?" Jacob asked.

"No," I said at once. I knew I'd be in trouble for not going home straight from school, but even the prospect of my Dad's wrath later wasn't going to make me tear myself away from him quite yet.

"Do you want to come over to ours for dinner, then? It'll just be microwaved stuff or pizza or something."

"Sounds great," I said, letting go of him at last and willing my erection to go down. I could hardly go and meet Billy Black with a raging hard-on. However, by the time we had walked back to Jacob's house, thankfully it had subsided and I was beginning to realise I was hungry.

Jacob charged into the house, dragged his boots off and hung his jacket on a peg in the hallway. I did the same and followed him into a large lounge room where his Dad was sitting in a wheelchair watching television.

"Dad, this is Paul," Jacob said as Billy looked up at us.

"Good to meet you, Paul." Billy held his hand out and I shook it.

"You too, Mr Black."

"Billy," he corrected. "You're Mick Lahote's son, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

Jacob disappeared into the kitchen to look for food and left me there making smalltalk with Billy. He seemed pretty nice and asked me about what I thought of La Push and how I was doing in school. He said he remembered the Lahote family from years back before my Dad left for college. Jacob came back in moments later and announced he had shoved some food in the oven to heat up. It would be around forty-five minutes so we left his Dad to his television programme and went to Jacob's room. He closed the door behind him and sat down on the narrow bed beneath the window. I hovered, wondering what Billy thought of me turning up for dinner with his son.

"So who does your Dad think I am? Your boyfriend?" I said with a grin leaning against the door.

Jacob blushed deeply. "Well, I didn't tell him that."

"Does he know you like guys?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, he's cool, so long as I'm happy."

"You're lucky." I went to sit down on the bed next to him. "My Dad's disgusted by me," I admitted.

"Did he say that?"

"He beat the shit out of me for fooling around with this guy."

"Oh my God, that's awful," Jacob gasped. "So he's not going to want me hanging around, then."

"No; I'll just have to hang around here instead," I said with a grin, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"So...who was this guy then?" Jacob asked.

"Which guy?" I kissed his ear and he shivered.

"The one you got caught fooling around with."

Shit, should I tell him about Richie or Eugene? Both - be honest. I couldn't tell him about the pack, but I could tell him everything else.

"Um...you know when I met you? It was a couple of weeks before that. It was nothing, just a bit of fun. And there was one other time in Tacoma. I had a girlfriend for nearly a year and I messed it up by fooling with this boy from school. My Dad broke my arm and my nose over it. My arm was still in a cast when we moved here."

Jacob edged closer to me and kissed my neck. "That must be lousy, having your Dad treat you like that," he said.

"Yeah, well, I figured as soon as I finish school I can get a job and leave. I put up with it since I was eight, another year or two won't kill me."

'Especially now I'm stronger', I thought.

"Did you...uh...sleep with them?" Jacob asked, barely above a whisper. I glanced down and noticed he was colouring up again.

"No. I never slept with a guy."

"Ok."

"So now you know all my secrets, what have you got to confess?" I teased. "Any skeletons in the closet?"

Jacob grinned. "Not one. My life's been really boring. Oh, except for this one night last summer. I went to this bonfire party..."

I smirked. "Oh, yeah?"

"I hate parties so I went off on my own. This guy came over to talk to me. Staggering around drunk; said he was on vacation. We started kissing, but then my friends came looking for me and ruined it."

"Shame," I said. "Did you like the guy?"

"Yeah. I spent about the next three days at the beach hoping he might come back, but I waited in vain." He stuck his bottom lip out.

"Aww. That's sad. Guess you'll have to make do with me." I kissed him lightly on the lips, thinking that if anyone could have heard us, they'd probably be reaching for a bucket by now. Corny just didn't even begin to describe it, but I was happy; happier than I'd been in my life. I knew I was falling for him and he seemed just as keen as I was; I was determined not to let my old gang, his friends, my new shape-shifter status or my Dad spoil it.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

I didn't get home until almost ten. Jacob and I ate with Billy in the lounge room, then spent the rest of the evening in Jacob's bedroom listening to music, talking and kissing. I was longing to do more, but we couldn't really start fooling around with his Dad in the house. I left very reluctantly at nine forty-five and ran home, to find my Dad apparently calmly watching a baseball game on the television.

"That you, Paul?" he called out as I closed the door.

"Yes."

"Where have you been?" He came into the hall as I took my shoes off.

"Over at a friend's house."

"What friend?"

"Just someone from school."

The back of his hand caught me across the cheekbone before I even realised it was coming and I staggered into the wall, my eyes watering.

"What have I said about coming home straight from school! You see friends on the weekends, so long as I know who you're with!" Dad yelled.

"Yeah; sorry."

I straightened up. I saw the second punch coming and threw my arm up to block it. The fist hit my elbow and much to my surprise I barely felt it. Dad pulled his hand back and shook it, looking puzzled as if the impact had hurt his knuckles. I took the opportunity to dodge past him into my room and slam the door closed. I leaned against it for ten minutes, my heart hammering, expecting him to come after me, but eventually I heard the shower running, then his bedroom door opening and closing. I took my shirt off and lay down on the bed still in my school pants, gazing at the ceiling and pushing my Dad to the back of my mind. It wasn't long before I was smiling again and I drifted into sleep with an image of Jacob in my head. I woke late the next morning and found Dad about to leave for work.

"I'll be late tonight; get yourself some takeout or something," he said, placing twenty dollars on the kitchen counter. A moment later he was gone.

I hurried into the shower and scrubbed myself, taking a brief look at my face in the bathroom mirror. A deep purple bruise had spread over my cheekbone and there was no way of covering it up. I was almost tempted to skip school, but then I dressed quickly, grabbed the money and my backpack and left the house. I just about had time to catch the bus.

By the time I reached the bus stop, the other kids who caught it were already there, Jacob, Embry and Quil standing a few yards away from the others and talking. I walked over to them.

"Hey, Paul." Jacob turned towards me with a smile and then it faded as rapidly as it had appeared, his eyes widening in shock. "Shit, what happened? Did your Dad do that?" He reached up to touch my face, his fingers cold against my hot skin.

"Don't, it's fine," I said. "It's nothing." I grasped hold of his hand and pulled it away from my face.

"But..."

"Sshh, don't worry about it."

"Jake, people are looking," Embry said suddenly in an uncomfortable whisper.

"Let them," Jacob replied.

"Are those two guys holding hands?" I heard a voice in the larger group of kids say.

Much to my surprise, Jacob turned his head around quickly and glared at them all. "Fuck off!" he snapped and turned back to me.

I grinned and let go of him as the bus pulled up. The four of us sat down at the back and I noticed Jared was conspicuously missing, until Quil spotted him outside running to try and catch the bus before it set off. The bus door closed and it began to move so I jumped up and rang the bell. The driver braked sharply and turned around in annoyance.

"What's wrong with you kids?" he grumbled.

"You left someone behind," I said as Jared reached the door.

"Since when did you care anything about Jared?" Embry asked.

"Well, he was the first person I got to know when I came here," I said. Jacob elbowed me. "Uh, no, the second," I corrected and smiled at him. It was all I could do not to lean closer and kiss him. Instead I just stared into his eyes until Quil began to make retching noises the other side of him.

"Jesus, are you two for real?" said Embry.

"Hey, guys." Jared interrupted us and squeezed onto the seat between Quil and Embry. "Thanks for stopping the bus."

"It was Paul," Quil said.

Jared nodded at me and then frowned. "Been fighting?"

"No."

Jacob glanced at me but said nothing.

"Bathroom cabinet attacked me," I added.

Jared dropped it and the journey to school was, for once, filled with hilarity and seemed only to last a few minutes. Absolutely nothing happened during the day either, not even in the lunch break. I went into the food hall with all four of the others and although Tom, Steve and Bobbie were in there too with the girls, they did nothing more than glare at us from a distance. I guessed that however tough they thought they were, they didn't feel like bothering five guys at once.

After school I went to Jacob's house again. My Dad had said he wouldn't be home until later and I still had the twenty dollars so we picked up pizzas on the way, shared them with Billy and then spent the rest of the evening in Jacob's room again.

"You know, we're going to have to do something about getting some privacy somehow," I said eventually, rolling away from him before I was tempted to tear his shirt off.

"I got an idea," Jacob said. "You saw the other buildings on our land? The double one is a workshop; I fix cars and bikes in there, it's kind of a hobby, but I make a bit of money out of it too. One end of it's more like a lounge room with a couch and stuff, it just needs clearing up a little. I'll sort it out at the weekend."

"Sounds great," I said at once. The building he was referring to was about thirty yards away from the house and surrounded by rough ground and mud; Billy was highly unlikely to wander over there in his wheelchair at any time.

On Thursday the trouble started. I took phys-ed right before lunch, but none of the other guys were in my class. I wasn't much for team sports and usually elected to do track. I could quite easily run laps around the field for an hour daydreaming. When it was over I showered, put my uniform on and set off for the food hall. As I took a shortcut across the tennis courts towards the main school building, I ran into Tom and his henchmen.

"Paul; where are you going in such a hurry?" Steve asked mildly.

"I'm not in any hurry." I stopped, eyeing the three of them as they stood in a small semi-circle in front of me.

"How are you liking hanging out with a bunch of fags?" Bobbie said.

"Guess you're pretty happy, since you are one," added Steve.

"Yeah, much happier than when I was with you assholes," I retorted.

"What happened to your face?" asked Tom, eyeing the bruise which still darkened the skin over my cheekbone.

"Accident."

"Seems like you have a few of those," Bobbie said, grinning now. "Seems to me like it was a bit of an accident you running into us just now."

"Jesus," I muttered impatiently. "Are you guys going to try and hit me or just talk about it?"

Tom's fist shot out a second later, aiming for my unbruised cheek. I ducked and the momentum from his punch made him stagger forwards. I turned to the side, straightened up and drove my knee into his stomach. I didn't think I'd done it particularly hard, but he fell to his knees, his face turning purple, choking, seemingly unable to breathe. Bobbie and Steve flew at me simultaneously and I threw my fist out, catching Steve in the side of the head. He dropped like a stone. Bobbie hit my jaw and then stepped back, swearing and shaking his hand as if he'd punched a wall rather than my face. I was both stunned and amused, but distracted enough not to notice Tom move suddenly from his crouched position, wrap his arms around the lower part of my legs and drag them out from under me. I fell backwards, crashing onto the clay surface of the tennis court. Tom backed off and I kicked out with one foot, striking him in the shoulder before he was able to get up. He stumbled again and I got to my feet quickly as Bobbie came back at me.

I could feel my temper beginning to rise now as I imagined what would have happened if these jerks had cornered Jacob and heat filled me, making me break out in a sweat. I knew I ought to get control of myself, but with Bobbie coming at me again, I had no opportunity to take a breath. I lashed out and my fist hit him in the chest, throwing him backwards several feet where he lay on the ground gasping, making no further effort to get up.

"Paul! For fuck's sake, stop!" Jared skidded to a halt at my side and grabbed me by the arm, urging me away from the guys. "That's enough, you're out of control. Breathe."

"Yeah." I was trembling and I felt as if I was staring down a tunnel.

"Paul! Look at me." Jared gripped me by the shoulders, giving me a shake. "Come on, you can't lose it here."

I took a long shuddering breath and gradually his face began to come into focus, then the rest of him and the tennis court behind him where a number of people had gathered to watch the spectacle. I took another breath.

"I'm ok."

"Alright, let's go." Jared grabbed my bag which I had dropped on the ground and handed it to me. "What the hell were you doing anyway? You can't start fighting like that."

"Do you really think I started it?" I sighed. "They were waiting for me."

"Well, hopefully they won't bother in the future," Jared said, glancing back at the three guys who were now on their feet, watching us mutinously, all dishevelled and panting.

They didn't bother me again. I guess they thought it would be easier to hurt Jacob. When we got off the bus in La Push, the three of them were waiting by the gas station in the dark. I thought it odd that they had bothered to come over to La Push and somehow managed to get there before we did. Embry, Quil and Jared took off straight away and I went into the store to get some cokes. It was only two or three minutes before I came out and found Steve and Bobbie holding Jacob by the arms while Tom hit him repeatedly. He was coughing and spluttering, his mouth and nose bleeding, his legs almost giving way beneath him as he struggled for breath.

I dropped my bag and the cokes on the ground and rushed forward, but something stopped me just feet away. It was like an invisible wall that I couldn't get past and I shoved at it in frustration. I had to get to him before they killed him. He had fallen to the ground now and Bobbie was kicking him viciously in the ribs.

"Stop!" I yelled, my feet still rooted to the spot. "Jacob! _Jake_!"

A loud crash startled me. My door hit the wall and I found myself lying in my bed, tangled in the sheet which was soaked in sweat, my breath coming in harsh gasps.

"Who the hell is Jake?" my Dad growled.

I sat up slowly, shuddering, struggling to shake the dream off. I blinked and rubbed a hand over my face. "A friend."

"What kind of friend?"

"That's my business." I knew I was at a disadvantage and I slid out of the bed and stood up.

"It's my business too, if you're yelling his name in your sleep. You're my son! You think I want you turning into a faggot?" Dad raged.

"It's not like you make a choice to go one way or the other!"

"Of course it's a choice! You've had girlfriends and yet you _choose_ to do God only knows what with boys too. I'm ashamed of you!"

"You're ashamed? What about me?" I cried, suddenly furious. He had put me through so much shit over the years. "Why do you think I never brought any of my friends around to the house?" I shouted. "Because you might come home drunk and hit me or them. What kind of father beats shit out of his son, just because his own life is fucked up? It's not my fault Mom left, it was yours! She left because you did the same to her, but I couldn't leave. I was just a kid; I was stuck with you and you put me in the hospital twice! You know what? I don't give a shit what you think any more. If I want to be with a boy, then I will be!" I yelled.

Dad's fist slammed into the side of my head, throwing me off balance and I staggered against the bed. I hadn't been ready for it. I pulled myself upright again and thrust both hands out, shoving him backwards.

"Get away from me," I panted.

"You little shit, you need some discipline!"

He came forward again and I felt myself filling up with heat and rage. I was shaking all over and this time I didn't try to calm down and breathe. I just wanted the way he had treated me for so long to be over. I hit out at him, knocking him back.

"I told you to get away from me," I said through my teeth. I sprang up onto the bed as far from him as I could get. He had fallen against the door frame and was pulling himself upright, his face twisted with anger and his fists clenched.

It happened so fast it sucked the breath out of me. One minute I was crouching on the bed in my shorts, the next my hands were on the floor and the back half of me still on the bed, only it wasn't hands that rested on the floor, it was paws; huge grey paws with long claws protruding from them. I stepped forward and placed the other two paws on the ground. When I growled, the sound was terrifying and incredibly loud in the small room. Dad staggered backwards out of the open door, the colour draining out of his face, eyes wide. I could imagine myself tearing his head from his shoulders, putting an end to his repeated torment of me, but I knew I couldn't do it. I turned away and launched myself at the window which stood wide open. It was just big enough for me to get through and I landed on all fours on the patch of grass behind the house. I sprang over the fence surrounding the small yard and fled.

I ran and ran, bounding into the woods and tearing through the trees, the best place I could think of to go where I was unlikely to encounter anyone. When I eventually stopped, panting, I had no idea where I was. I sat down, trying to calm myself but at the same time fearful that I wouldn't be able to turn back; that I would be stuck like this. I was so angry, I couldn't see how I would be able to relax enough.

Eventually I began to follow my own scent back through the woods towards La Push. As I ran along the narrow path, gradually my temper left me, but still I was a wolf. I knew I couldn't go home even if I did manage to change back and I halted at the edge of the trees where I could just make out the shape of Sam Uley's house in the darkness. He would help me.

I broke out of the trees and ran across the meadow to the house, my heart thumping unevenly. What if he couldn't help me? What if I really had to stay as a wolf forever? Stupid but frightening thoughts plagued me and by the time I reached Sam's porch I had worked myself up into a panic and I could hear myself whining like a lost puppy. How could I attract Sam's attention? Bark or something?

I opened my mouth, unsure what sound was going to come out and I howled. Oh shit. It was deafening and I had probably just woken up half of La Push. I dropped onto my belly in an effort to be less conspicuous and scratched desperately at the door with my front paws.

_'Please let me in.' _I heard my own frightened voice in my head and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for Sam to come to me and make everything alright.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

It seemed an age before the door opened, but it could only have been a minute. Sam appeared wearing a pair of boxers with Homer Simpson on them, of all things. If I could have laughed, I would have.

"Paul?" he said. "God, what happened?"

I got to my feet again and whined miserably, then turned my head as I heard pounding feet coming towards the house. Another wolf, larger than me and with thick brown fur. He halted and climbed slowly up onto the porch beside me. I could hear his voice in my head and I guessed that must be the way they communicated; by some form of telepathy.

_'Paul.' _It was Jared's voice.

My own thoughts were a turmoil and I found I couldn't respond coherently.

_'Come down off the porch, follow me,'_ Jared instructed, walking down the steps again backwards. _'Sam's going to join us; we'll help you.'_

I followed him dumbly, shivering. Sam came out of the house and walked away from us a few yards. He changed so fast I could barely see it happen. One minute he was Sam, standing there in his innocuous Homer Simpson shorts and the next he was a huge black wolf, much bigger than both me and Jared.

_'Let's walk.'_ Sam's rumbling voice came into my head and I found myself beginning to walk slowly around the meadow, Sam on one side of me and Jared on the other. They talked and I listened.

Sam told me about his own traumatic first phasing, prompting him to run away and hide in the woods for two weeks. No one had told him about the shape-shifters and when he suddenly found himself as a wolf, he was terrified. He had no idea what had happened and no idea how to turn back, or even if he could turn back.

Jared's story was similar although he already knew what to expect. A rapid and violent phasing following a fight with some other kid on the reservation, running away in a panic, hiding in the woods crying until Sam found him. I wondered now how Jared had known to turn up at the precise moment that he had and he answered me at once.

_'If one of us howls, the others come running, wherever we are and whatever we might have been doing.'_

As I listened to them, I gradually began to relax and after two circuits of the meadow, we halted outside the door of the house again. Lights were on now and I guessed Emily was up. I noticed a pile of clothes lying on the porch and thought it odd that she must have put them there, until Jared sat down on the steps and was suddenly human again and naked. He grabbed a pair of shorts from the pile and pulled them on quickly.

_'Paul, all you have to do is relax; let go of the anger,'_ Sam's voice said. '_Imagine that everything's alright; no one's going to hurt you again. Picture yourself back in your human form.'_

I did as he said and nothing happened. I was still a wolf. Maybe it was because I still couldn't get my thoughts in order and I did my best to put my Dad out of my mind and imagine myself free and happy. I looked up at Sam after a moment, realising he was human again, grabbing another pair of pants to put on and holding some cut off jeans out towards me. What did he think I was going to do with them? I looked down at myself and found I was kneeling on the ground, human just as he was.

"Shit," I gasped and took the jeans. I got up and put them on, my hands shaking. I seemed to be trembling all over and I was panting for breath.

"I'll leave you to it. You'll be ok, Paul." Jared turned and sprinted away and Sam ushered me into the house where Emily was waiting, dressed in a fluffy pink bathrobe and furry ankle boots.

"Come and sit down," she said, indicating the sofa.

I barely made it before my legs gave way and I sank onto the cushions. Suddenly everything was too much and I burst into tears and with them, out came all my anguish.

"My Dad hates me!" I sobbed. "He's been beating me since I was eight, first 'cause Mom left so he couldn't hurt her any more and he started drinking and taking it out on me, now he just hates me because I'm gay and he's ashamed to have a son who likes boys!"

I put my hands over my face and wept, half expecting Sam to throw me out after that revelation, but all that happened was that Emily sat down beside me and wrapped her arms around me while Sam dropped into an armchair opposite.

"It's alright, let it all out," Emily murmured. "You're ok now, we'll look after you."

She carried on cuddling me for the few minutes it took for me to get control of myself and then I straightened up and sniffed hard.

"Sorry," I said shakily.

"Nothing to be sorry for," grunted Sam.

"God, my Dad's going to kill me," I groaned suddenly, remembering his face after I phased. Stupidly all I could think about was what he would think of me.

"No, he won't. You don't even have to see him if you don't want," Sam said. "You can't go on living like that." He glanced at Emily then and she nodded slightly. "You can come and stay with us," he went on. "No parent has the right to treat their kids like that. Nobody's going to judge you here either. You've got to be what makes you happy."

I stared at him in amazement. "Are you serious?" I said.

"Yeah," he grinned now. "We'll go and get your stuff in the morning. If your Dad has anything to say about it, he can deal with me."

"You hardly even know me," I said.

"You're one of the pack," said Sam simply. "That makes us family; brothers. Em, show him the guest room, it's time we all got some sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow."

I couldn't quite believe my luck. Emily showed me into a large guest room with a double bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and television, passed me a spare pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt of Sam's for the morning and then left me alone. With everything that had happened over the last couple of hours I didn't think I would be able to sleep, but the minute I got into the large comfortable bed, exhaustion took over and I was dead to the world.

When I woke several hours later I was completely disorientated for a moment until I remembered the events of the night. I had no idea what time it was, but daylight was pouring in through the window and I got up quickly. I could hear Sam and Emily talking in the kitchen so I slipped into the bathroom, took a quick shower and dressed and went to join them. As I headed into the room I could hear Sam on the phone.

"This is Mr Lahote, I'm just calling to let you know Paul won't be in school today; he's ill."

I grinned to myself and walked into the kitchen as Sam hung up the phone.

"Hey, how did you sleep?" Emily asked.

"Good, thanks. Actually better than I have in ages."

"Would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

She served up bacon, eggs, beans and toast for the three of us and Sam told me he had also called Jared to ask him to let my friends know I was sick and would be staying home. I immediately thought of Jacob. I should text him, but my phone was at home - at my Dad's house, I corrected.

"When does your Dad go to work?" asked Sam.

"He's gone already," I said, glancing at the clock. It was nine-fifteen.

"Do you have a key?"

"Not on me." I couldn't help grinning. "There's a spare under the porch though."

Sam shovelled the last forkful of beans into his mouth and got up. "Let's go and get your stuff. I'll call your Dad tonight."

"Ok."

We drove over to the house in Sam's truck. It was locked and empty and I got the spare key from under the porch to let us in. Within twenty minutes we had all my clothes, books, music and so on in the truck and I sent Jacob a text message to tell him I was ok as Sam drove back. A message came back within a minute to say Jared had told everyone I was as sick as a dog. I snorted and sent another.

'I'm fine, I'll talk to you after school.'

"Who's that?" Sam asked.

"Uh...a friend."

"Look, my house is a little different from your Dad's," said Sam. "If you want to bring friends - whatever kind they are - over to hang out or for dinner, it's cool. We don't have many rules. Only that after today you carry on going to school, you respect Emily and you come home by ten or you call to say why you're late. That's it."

"I can do that," I said at once. "I don't quite know how to thank you for all this."

"No need."

Sam parked the truck in front of the house and helped me carry my stuff inside. After I'd put it all away in my new room, we hung out and talked. He told me more about the shape-shifters, how it had all started for him, how he had Imprinted on Emily which meant she was his soul mate - he would spend the rest of his life doing everything to make her happy and die to protect her. He went on to explain Imprinting to me and I was fascinated.

"Will I Imprint on someone?" I asked.

"Some do, some don't. It's fate and sometimes it causes you problems because you can't choose who you Imprint on. I had another girlfriend, Leah Clearwater, but fate chose Emily for me. I broke Leah's heart and it's like a constant pain that I did that to her."

"Sounds complicated," I said with a sigh. It would be just my luck for fate to go and land Melissa on me again.

At lunch time I got another text from Jacob and then throughout the afternoon we carried on an intermittent text conversation, until suddenly he didn't answer something I said. I guessed he would be in class and it had become difficult to keep on doing it. My cellphone was almost out of juice anyway, so I plugged it into the charger and later went out to meet the school bus. It rolled up on time and the usual crowd climbed out and scattered, but there was no sign of Jacob. Embry, Quil and Jared came over to speak to me and after Jared briefly asked if I was ok, he said he had to get home and left us.

"Where's Jacob?" I asked the others.

"Detention," Quil said.

"Why? What's he done?" I said, disappointed. Now I'd have to wait another hour to see him.

"Sending you text messages in class. He got his phone confiscated too, until after detention."

"Shit," I muttered.

"What have you been doing anyway?" Embry said. "You don't look very sick."

"I'm not." I decided to give them a brief outline of a few things. "I got in a fight with my Dad last night; he likes to use me for a punchbag sometimes."

"Jesus," Quil muttered. "Why didn't you tell anyone before?"

"It's not something you want to boast about," I said. "It's over anyway, I moved out."

"On your own?" Embry's eyebrows rose. "Where to?"

"I'm not on my own, I guess you could say I got fostered," I said with a grin. "I'm staying with Sam Uley."

"You know Sam Uley?" Quil said in surprise. "No one knows him; we know _of_ him, but he keeps to himself; him and his weird girlfriend. Even Embry doesn't know him that well and they're brothers!"

"Hey, Emily's not weird, she's awesome," I frowned. "Anyway, Jared knows them, he introduced us."

"Oh, ok." Embry shrugged. "Well, I guess that's better than living with your Dad, if he hits you. What are you doing now? Do you want to hang out for a while?"

"Sure," I said. It seemed they were beginning to accept me. "I've got an hour to kill."

We all went over to Embry's house and I met his mother, Tiffany. She was on her own and Embry explained later that she'd never married. She had a brief affair with Sam's Dad before he abandoned his family and moved out of state and the result was Embry. Therefore the relationship between Sam and Embry was somewhat strained and they didn't go out of their way to see each other.

We ate chips and played a computer game for a while, completely forgetting about the time. The next time I looked at my watch, I knew the town bus would be pulling up outside the gas station.

"Shit! Sorry, I have to go," I said, leaping off my chair.

"Aww. Don't you want to miss Jacob?" Embry teased.

"Shut up. I guess I'll see you Monday."

I hurried out of the house and set off in the direction of the gas station, taking a slight detour to bring myself onto the route Jacob would take from the bus stop to his house, just in case he was already walking back. I didn't see him along the road and when I reached the gas station, much to my surprise the lights were off and the shutters down. A note was pinned on the outside of one of the shutters.

'Closed due to power outage. Sorry for inconvenience.'

A single streetlight shone down on the bus shelter and I checked my wristwatch again. The bus was never this late; it must have been and gone already. I cursed myself for not bringing my cellphone with me and walked up and down in front of the gas station for a few minutes, wondering where Jacob could be. Maybe he missed the bus in Forks. All I could do really was run home to get my phone and then call him. Disappointed, I turned to head back the way I had come, shoving my hands into my pockets and kicking at a loose stone on the sidewalk.

As I passed the end of the gas station store, the part in the shadow of the streetlight, I heard a groan. I stopped walking and listened hard. I could hear my own heart thumping and I felt strangely nervous. Something wasn't right and I suddenly remembered the awful dream I'd had the previous night which had prompted everything that had happened to me since.

Another groan reached my ears and then a single word, guttural as if uttered through clenched teeth.

"Help."

Despite my intense body heat, I went cold all over. I peered into the darkness alongside the building and after a few seconds my eyes adjusted enough to see the two trash bins standing against the wall and someone lying on the ground in front of them. Jacob.

I rushed forward and dropped to my knees beside him, put my hand on his chest. He was wearing no jacket, only his school shirt and he was ice cold, the lower half of his face covered with blood. Now he flinched away from me and threw one arm up as if to ward off a punch.

"Jacob, it's me. It's alright. What happened?"

He lowered his arm and I reached out again to touch him again, resting my hand on his other shoulder. This time he yelled out in pain and I snatched my hand back. I felt sick. Those evil bastards I'd fought with the day before and made to look weak had decided to take it out on Jacob instead and because I was fooling about playing stupid computer games with Embry and Quil, I missed the bus arriving. If I'd been here on time I could have prevented it. Rage and anguish flooded into me, rolling inside my chest in a ball of heat and my body began to shake. I backed away from Jacob quickly, terrified I would phase and hurt him even more. I was torn between wanting to take care of him and running to Forks to tear Tom and his gang limb from limb. They could wait; I'd catch up with them when Jacob was safe.

'Calm down,' I told myself. 'Get mad later. You can't help him if you lose it. Deep breaths.'

I closed my eyes, panting, willing the wolf in me to subside. Sam had said it could be uncontrollable at first, but I was damned if I was going to let it out right now. Gradually I became calmer and I hurried to Jacob's side again. He wasn't moving and when I touched his face there was no response.

"Shit, shit," I gasped, laying my hand on his chest. His heart was thudding rapidly and I guessed he must have passed out or something. Maybe that was a good thing. I went around the other side of him to avoid touching his shoulder, slid my arms under him and scooped him up. He didn't weigh half as much as I expected, but that was probably just me not knowing my own strength yet. I cursed myself once again for leaving my phone at home. I couldn't even use the one in the gas station, since it was closed.

Jacob stirred in my arms and groaned as I stood there trying to decide what to do for the best.

"Paul?"

"Yeah. I'm going to take you home."

"No," he gasped. "My Dad...will be...upset."

"Then we're going to mine." I began to walk quickly, almost tripping in my haste to get across the street. Jacob groaned in pain again and I slowed down. That half mile walk back to Sam's was going to be the longest walk of my life.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

The walk to Sam's probably only took me fifteen minutes, but it seemed like an hour. Jacob held onto my neck with his uninjured arm, his head resting on his own bicep and his eyes closed. Finally I reached the house and climbed up onto the porch.

"Sam!" I yelled and kicked the bottom of the door. It flew open in a second and Sam stared at us in horror.

"Bring him inside," he said quickly, standing back to let me pass.

I went into the lounge room and carefully lowered Jacob onto the sofa, trying not to jolt him. Even so, he groaned painfully and when I stood back and looked at him in the light, I felt as if my heart was being crushed. His nose had bled heavily, covering his chin and neck and soaking into his shirt; his shoulder was the wrong shape as if it had been torn out of the socket and his arms and hands were bruised and grazed.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Emily gasped. "I'll call an ambulance."

"No. No hospital," Jacob moaned at once.

"Then I'll get Sue Clearwater," she said, snatching up the phone.

I found myself backing towards the kitchen door now, unable to stop myself shaking. It wasn't the wolf in me trying to get out, it was the horror of seeing the person I cared for more than anyone in so much pain.

"I can't do this," I whispered.

Sam caught my arm. "Do you need to get outside?"

"No. I'm ok. I just..." I stopped and squeezed my eyes shut.

"What is he to you?" asked Sam quietly.

I looked up at him again. I didn't speak, but I guessed what I was feeling was in my eyes. He just nodded.

"Then you need to help. Come on, get a hold of yourself." He gave me a light shove back into the lounge.

I took a deep breath and went over to the sofa, kneeling down on the carpet beside it. Emily had already fetched a bowl of water and cloth and was beginning to wash the blood off Jacob's face. His eyes were closed, but he groaned every so often, indicating he was conscious. I grasped his hand and held it tightly.

"Is Sue on her way?" Sam asked.

"Yes, she'll be five minutes," Emily told him. "She's a nurse," she added for my benefit and then pointed at her face. "She helped me once."

A few minutes later, Sue Clearwater let herself into the house and hurried over, quickly deducing that Jacob's shoulder was dislocated.

"We need to deal with that first," she said. "Emily, have you got some scissors? We better cut his shirt off, it'll hurt less."

I stayed where I was on the floor, holding onto Jacob's hand and trying not to give way to my feelings when I saw the terrible bruises all over his upper body. Sue checked for broken ribs, but found none. Then she directed Sam and I, getting Jacob to sit up and making us hold him still against the back of the sofa. She grasped his arm by the wrist and the elbow, rotated and manoeuvred it until there was an audible click of it going back into the socket. Jacob screamed in agony and I shuddered, feeling sick with his pain. Once again he passed out and Sue carefully laid him back down on the sofa and began to strap his shoulder up.

I couldn't hold myself together any longer and leaped up, running to the kitchen. I threw the back door of the house open and half jumped, half fell out of it, landing on the grass outside on all four paws. I flew towards the woods, growling and snarling, filled with fury and pain which seemed to be swallowing me up. I ran until I was breathless and my temper had begun to ebb, then skidded to a halt and turned to face home again. I knew I had to calm down and get back to Jacob, however hard it might be. He was hurting a hell of a lot more than I was; I could deal with my own feelings properly once he was ok again.

I raced back to the house and stopped at the kitchen door. It was closed now and I sat down in front of it, willing myself to phase back. To my relief it happened quickly and I opened the door, peering cautiously inside. I didn't want to burst in naked if Emily or Sue were in the kitchen. The room was empty and the door leading to the lounge also closed. I stepped inside and snatched a pair of cut offs from the pile in Emily's ironing basket, quickly pulling them on. A moment later Sam came in.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did the right thing. Jacob's ok, it's mainly just bruises and scrapes. His nose isn't even broken, it was just a heavy bleed. Sue gave him some painkillers; she left a minute ago."

I nodded. "Can I go and see him?"

"Of course."

Sam stayed in the kitchen and as I headed into the lounge, Emily passed me and went to the bathroom. Jacob was still lying on the couch now covered with a quilt, his uninjured arm resting on top of it. I crouched beside him and touched his hand.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Sore." He opened his eyes and looked into mine for the first time since I'd found him.

Something strange began to happen to me. His eyes were like dark pools and I felt almost as if I was falling into them. I seemed to be floating, everything around me fading away and leaving me with nothing except for Jacob. He had hold of me somehow, holding me down and I felt myself filling up with heat - not the kind I had when I was in a rage and about to phase, but something different. Brief flashes of images filled my head - Jacob and I as wolves running together; fighting side by side; as humans walking on the beach holding hands; kissing. Suddenly he was all there was; nothing else - none of the shit that had happened to me - mattered any more.

I fell back to earth with a thump and my knees hit the floor suddenly as I fell forwards out of my crouch. I shook my head, stunned.

"Oh, shit," I heard Sam say quietly from the kitchen doorway.

"Paul?" Jacob blinked and frowned slightly. "What happened?"

I Imprinted; that's what happened. It frustrated me that I couldn't tell him.

"I think you passed out for a second, you have done a few times." I backed away and got to my feet. "I'm just going to get a drink." I headed for the kitchen. Sam pushed the door closed gently.

"You Imprinted," he said in a low voice.

"I know." I poured myself a glass of water and spilled half of it, my hand shaking. I put the glass down quickly on the table. "Oops." I laughed stupidly and then bit my lip. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to feel, but my heart was pounding and I wanted to jump up and down and shout at the top of my voice. Sam didn't looked particularly amused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You Imprinting on him is kind of awkward."

"Why? I'm nuts about him anyway, I wouldn't want it to be anyone else," I blurted and then felt myself turning red.

Sam sighed and leaned against the counter, his arms folded.

"Jacob's destiny is to become Alpha," he began.

"What? But you're Alpha," I said, puzzled.

"Yeah, for now. Only because I was the first to shift. Jacob's the great grandson of Ephraim Black, the Quileute chief of his time and Alpha of his pack. That means he'll follow in Ephraim's footsteps when he phases and I'll step down."

"Ok. So why is that a problem?"

"Because you Imprinted your instinct will be to protect him; to get in between him and things that might hurt him; to take control. But when he's Alpha, he'll naturally take control of you. It'll cause friction, maybe even fighting for the upper hand. I don't know, it's not something that ever happened before."

"Well, if it never happened before, how can you know it'll cause trouble?" I asked. "I'm not going to fight him; I'd do anything he asked of me."

"I don't know for certain, it just seems likely," Sam said. "It's too late to do anything about it anyway; your life has just been mapped out for you. We'll have to hope for the best."

His seriousness failed to dampen my mood and I returned to the lounge to sit with Jacob. He had dozed off and I sat down on the floor next to the sofa and watched him sleep.

I heard Sam on the telephone, first of all talking to Billy, telling him Jacob and 'a couple of others' were at his house 'hanging out' and that it would probably be a late night. He finished the conversation by saying he would dig out some sleeping bags and send Jacob home in the morning. Next he called my Dad. Sam was in the kitchen, but when I turned I could see him through the open door.

"Mr Lahote, this is Sam Uley. I'm calling about Paul." He didn't have chance to say much. I saw him holding the phone a foot away from his ear, scowling at it as my Dad apparently yelled a stream of insults about me at him. Sam put the phone back to his ear.

"I'd say you're not fit to be a father. Paul will be living with me from now on, until he's old enough to make his own life. If you have any inclination to see him in the future, you had better call me first and make an appointment." He hung up and came into the room.

"What did he say? You're welcome to me?" I asked.

"Something along those lines, yes. I'm sorry, Paul."

"Don't be. I know what he thinks of me and I don't care if I never see him again."

I wasn't even trying to put on a brave face. It was a relief that my Dad didn't want me back. Everything I did want was right in front of me, sleeping peacefully.

He didn't wake for over twelve hours and I didn't budge all night except to go to the bathroom and get a snack from the kitchen. Sam and Emily went to bed around midnight and I sat in the dark by the sofa, eventually falling sleep with my head resting on my folded arms beside Jacob. When I woke my legs and my back were stiff and I stretched uncomfortably. It was still dark and there was no sound from Sam and Emily's room. Jacob stirred a moment later.

"Hey." I touched his hand lightly.

"Paul? What are you doing here? Where am I?"

"At Sam's place. You remember what happened yesterday?"

"I remember getting beaten." He shuddered at the memory. "And you finding me. Not much else. Why am I at Sam's?"

"You didn't want your Dad to see you. I brought you here because this is where I live now."

"Wow, when did this happen?"

"It's a bit of a long story." I tried to think of a good way of bringing Sam into the equation. "Thursday night I had this horrible nightmare that something happened to you. I ended up screaming your name and my Dad went crazy. I ran away and this was the only place I could think of to go to. Jared introduced me to Sam briefly and he was the only other adult I could think of who might help."

"You could have come to ours, my Dad would have let you stay," Jacob said at once.

"I know, but - no offence - your Dad is on wheels and mine's a drunken bully. I wanted someone around who could put him on his ass if necessary."

"Ok, that makes sense," said Jacob. "So how long are you staying here?"

"Sam says I can stay until I finish school, as long as I want really. Him and Emily have been amazing." I changed the subject then. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok. My shoulder hurts, but it's not too bad. Did anyone call my Dad? He'll be worried."

"Sam called him last night and said a bunch of people were here hanging out and you'd be home in the morning."

"I should probably call him myself," Jacob said and began to sit up. "I lost my phone. Actually, I think those guys broke it."

"You can't call him now, it's about 6am," I said.

I had almost put out of my mind the way I had found him. After I Imprinted, that was all I had been able to think about and now I was reminded that those sons of bitches out there were probably laughing to themselves that they hurt Jacob so badly.

"Who was it?" I asked. "Who hurt you? Tom Stewart?"

"No, he wasn't there. It was the other two. Mainly Bobbie, but the other one helped. They were waiting by the gas station in a truck until the bus arrived."

"Bastards," I hissed.

"Maybe you ought to stay away from me," Jacob said miserably. "They only turned on you because of me."

"They hate me because I upset Melissa and then turned out to be gay," I said. "I got in a fight with them earlier in the week and came out on top; made them look stupid. They only hurt you to get back at me. It won't happen again."

"How can you know that?" he asked.

"Because I'll sort it," I said fiercely.

"What are you going to do? You'll land yourself in trouble, or end up hurt..." Jacob protested.

"No, I won't. I'm just going to point out the error of their ways, that's all; come to an arrangement. They won't come near you again, I promise."

Sam wanted us to speak to Charlie Swan and report what had happened, but Jacob refused, mainly because he didn't want Billy to hear the details of his attack, but also because he thought Tom's gang had got what they wanted and reporting them would only aggravate them into causing more trouble. I wasn't so sure about that, but I didn't argue; I didn't want Charlie Swan sticking his nose in either, when I'd already decided how to deal with the situation. I had a plan and I couldn't wait until the end of the day to put it into action.

I took Jacob home after breakfast. Sam offered to drive him, but he said he'd rather walk. He went to take a shower and I gave him some of my clothes to change into. Sue had left instructions for him to keep his arm as still as possible for three or four days and then start to use it gradually as long as it didn't hurt too much. She had strapped it up before leaving, but now he had taken the immobilising strapping off and supported it by half fastening my leather jacket and tucking his hand into the front of it. I held his other hand as we walked over to his house and then I stayed a few hours, clearing up the workshop.

I moved boxes and swept dust from the big old couch in the corner and then Jacob sat on it while I did all the work. By the time I finished we had a comfortable place to chill out with a CD player sitting on a barrel and an old oil heater to chase the cold out, not that I would need it. I was wearing just t-shirt and jeans and sweating furiously, while Jacob sat huddled in my leather jacket until I had cleaned up the heater and plugged it in. It would certainly be needed, I thought, especially if I managed to get Jacob out of his clothes any time soon, although it would be later rather than sooner, given his injuries. I grinned to myself as I thought about getting closer to him. With everything that had been going on lately, I hadn't even been able to think about it. Now I had images in my head of me lying on that couch with him, touching him...

"What are you smiling about?" Jacob's voice cut into my thoughts.

"Nothing much."

"Oh, come on, you can't grin like that for no reason," he teased. "I'm practically a cripple here; the least you can do is tell me something that'll cheer me up."

I grabbed an old rag and wiped the dust off my hands, then sat down carefully on the couch next to him.

"You sure you want to know?"

"Humour me."

I leaned closer and brushed my lips against his cheek.

"I was just thinking..." Another kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"...what we could get up to on this couch..." Another kiss.

"...when you get over being a cripple." I covered his mouth with mine and he responded immediately, heatedly, sliding his unhurt arm up around my neck. When I drew back after a minute we were both breathless.

"I can't wait," Jacob whispered.

I stayed with him until late afternoon and when the sky began to darken, I reluctantly left him to go home, promising to return in the morning. Once I said goodbye I walked until I was out of sight and then sprinted the rest of the way home. I spent a few minutes chatting to Sam and Emily, telling them Jacob was ok and then that I would be going out again and may be late. They immediately assumed I was just going back to Jacob's and I didn't disillusion them. I went to my room, changed clothes and opened my window a crack, just wide enough to get a hand through from the outside and then placed a pair of shorts on the sill. I put a single dollar in my pocket, said goodbye to Sam and Emily again and headed out the front door.

As I walked back to the gas station, my stomach filled with butterflies and my heart thumped unevenly. I was full of a kind of nervous tension and I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms. Temper simmered just below the surface and I kept it from bubbling up by thinking about Jacob - smiling at me, kissing me, telling me he couldn't wait to be with me. I would keep those thoughts with me for just another hour or so before I let the image of Jacob beaten and screaming in pain take over.

I stood at the side of the road opposite the gas station, waiting for the bus going out of the reservation. Five minutes later it pulled up and I climbed aboard. I bought a ticket to Forks and went to take a seat at the back, where I stayed until the bus pulled up on the south side of Forks, two stops after the school. As I stepped down onto the street, there was just one thought in my mind - vengeance.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

It was a twenty minute walk from the bus stop to Bobbie's house. I jogged there in less than half the time and then walked up the long winding driveway. He lived a in a large house away from any others, the drive lined with trees so it was easy to remain unseen. I noticed a new red Dodge Dakota parked to one side of the house and guessed that was Bobbie's. He was already sixteen and he had been heard boasting at school that his parents had bought him a truck for his birthday. I imagined it parked up by the gas station while he and Steve sat in the cab, laughing together as they planned to ambush Jacob. I ground my teeth together and leaned against a tree as I waited.

Bobbie always went out on Saturday nights without fail and I guessed it wouldn't be long before he set off. I had plenty of time and I simply stood there watching the house, concentrating on keeping my breathing steady. The last thing I wanted to do was phase right now – I wanted to be able to speak to him.

About thirty minutes later Bobbie came down the side of the house, a bunch of keys jangling in his hand. He was alone and I watched him get into the truck, then turned and sprinted off down the treeline to the far end of the driveway. I was far enough away to be invisible from the house and the drive turned onto a deserted stretch of road. I stood there by a tree with my heart hammering, adrenalin pumping as I watched the truck's headlights slowly approaching me. Just before it reached the end of the drive, I stepped out into its path. The truck screeched to a halt inches from me and the engine died. Bobbie leaned out of the window.

"What the fuck? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I stepped around to the window. "You already tried that once, remember?"

"Paul! What are you doing here?" He gave a small smile, which seemed just a touch nervous to me.

"I thought it was time you and me had a little chat," I said pleasantly. "Maybe about what you were doing Friday night."

"I was at the gym with the guys, like always," Bobbie said at once.

"Before that." I gave him a hint of a smile.

"Um...I can't remember, I guess I went home for dinner...yeah, I did. Then I went to the gym."

"_Bullshit_!" I snarled. "You and Steve got in your fancy new truck..." I took hold of the wing mirror and tore it off, tossing it away behind me. "...drove down to La Push and waited by the gas station for the bus, didn't you?"

"Hey, you broke my fucking mirror!" Bobbie cried, ignoring what I'd said.

"You were seen!" They hadn't been so far as I knew, except by Jacob, but Bobbie's face took on a slight look of anxiety.

"We can't have been seen. We...weren't even there."

"Listen to me," I said. "I didn't come here to argue with you. I came here to warn you and you can tell Tom and Steve this too. You lay one more finger on Jacob Black – even look at him wrong – and I'll do the same to your arms as I just did to your mirror."

"You're fucking insane, man," Bobbie gasped.

"No, I'm protective. Leave Jacob alone and make sure Tom and Steve do the same and you won't hear anything more from me."

"No, but you'll hear from me." Bobbie regained a little composure suddenly. "All I have to do is call Chief Swan and tell him you're out of your mind, going around threatening people, damaging their property..."

"And who's he going to believe, huh? You? You think he's going to be listen to someone who's having... hallucinations? He might want to check your truck and your room to see what you've been smoking."

I knew full well Bobbie smoked grass – the other guys did too and had offered it to me more than once. They had thought I was boring for saying no.

"What do you mean, hallucinations?" demanded Bobbie.

I stepped back just a couple of feet and brought Jacob to mind, lying on the ground bleeding with Bobbie kicking him in the ribs. I phased in an instant and thrust my muzzle back through the window, growling.

"Mother of God!" exclaimed Bobbie, jerking back.

I withdrew my head and raised a paw, dragging my claws down the truck's door, making a screeching noise and ruining his paintwork. Bobbie fumbled desperately for the keys and after a moment got the truck started again. I let out another snarl and quickly noticed the unpleasant stench of urine issuing from the cab. Then Bobbie stamped on the accelerator and the truck lurched away from me to the end of the drive, turned into the road and began to head away from town. The poor kid didn't even have the brains to realise that if he turned the other way, he'd be in town in less than a minute and I wouldn't be able to do anything.

I began to bound after the truck almost gleefully, easily gaining on it until one determined spring landed me in the back of the pickup. I paused a moment to gain my balance and then reared up and brought my front paws down on the roof of the cab, denting it in two places. The truck swerved, but continued down the road and I pulled myself up until I lay across the roof, my front legs sliding down onto the hood. I grabbed one of the windshield wipers in my teeth and ripped it off just for the fun of it. Bobbie braked hard and the sudden stop threw me forward. All four sets of claws tore across the hood, ripping up paint and metal as I attempted to save myself, but I rolled off the front of the vehicle into the road.

I would have stopped then, but again I saw Jacob in my head, bleeding and groaning in pain because of what Bobbie did to him and I was up in a second, rage boiling inside me, springing back onto the hood, thrusting my front paws towards the windshield as if punching. They exploded through the glass and a second later Bobbie was screaming, almost the way Jacob had when Sue Clearwater put his shoulder back in. I pulled my legs back and peered into the cab. One of my paws had landed on Bobbie and from shoulder to elbow his flesh was torn with deep clawmarks, blood running freely. He began to sob and beg.

"Leave me alone, please, I'm sorry, I'll do anything. I'll make sure nothing happens to Jacob, I swear. Please don't hurt me."

I jumped to the ground and backed off a few paces. I got what I wanted. I hadn't intended to physically hurt him, but I couldn't bring myself to feel guilty over it. I turned and raced off in the direction of La Push, my heart banging against my ribs and my tongue hanging out of my mouth as I panted.

It was only minutes before I reached Sam's house and I ran around the back and sat down beneath my bedroom window, breathing deep to calm myself down. It seemed an age before I could relax enough and in the end I had to close my eyes and think about Jacob, holding him, kissing him, lying on that couch in the workshop with him. I phased back and stood up, grabbing the shorts I had left on my windowsill. My dick was hard and standing up against my stomach.

"Goddamnit," I muttered, smirking as I shoved it into the shorts and fastened them.

I waited outside for a few minutes until my erection subsided and then let myself in through the back door. I could hear Sam and Emily talking in the lounge room and I hurried past the door to the bathroom.

"I'm back!" I called out and quickly closed the door. I had mud on my feet and decided I had better not make it obvious I had phased or Sam would ask questions. I showered quickly, put the shorts back on along with a t-shirt and then went to sit down and watch television with them for a while. Neither of them asked me anything other than how was Jacob. It was Sunday night before I heard something about what I'd done.

I spent most of Sunday over at Jacob's house again. The minute I woke in the morning I had an almost overpowering urge to see him. It was like part of me was empty and the only thing that could fill me up was being with him. I nibbled half-heartedly at breakfast and fidgeted constantly, glancing at the clock every few seconds.

"What?" I said when I noticed Sam grinning at me.

"Imprinting – that's what it does to you. You'll calm down when you see him."

Annoyingly I could feel my face turning red.

"Go on, get out of here," added Sam.

Twenty minutes later I was knocking on Billy's door. It wasn't even nine o'clock, but both he and Jacob were up eating breakfast. I joined them and ate some toast. Sam was right – as soon as I saw him, everything fell into place and I felt at peace.

We spent a couple of hours in his room watching a DVD and then went down to the workshop to try out our new den. It was perfect; we switched on the heater and some music and sat on the couch, me with my feet up on a crate and Jacob's legs resting across my thighs. I slid my arms around him and cuddled him, loving the feel of him against me.

"I don't know how you can be so hot all the time, it's freezing outside," he said. He was wearing a thick sweatshirt and I wore just a t-shirt, but as usual I was too warm.

"Guess I'm just hot blooded."

I turned my head to kiss him and he closed his eyes, his lips caressing mine eagerly. I plunged my tongue into his mouth, exploring, tasting him, feeling my pants rapidly becoming uncomfortably tight. Jacob let out a whimper and only succeeded in turning me on more. I was dying to slide my hands under his sweatshirt, stroke them over his body, unfasten his pants...

I drew my lips away from his with a groan and pressed my face into his neck, breathing hard. I didn't dare do anything other than hold him gently for fear of putting my hand on a bruise.

"Woah, sorry!" Embry's voice exclaimed from the door.

"Fuck me!" added Quil.

I looked up quickly. "I'd rather not," I said, trying not to be embarrassed.

Jacob snorted with laughter and pulled away from me slowly.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Well...um..." Embry's face was scarlet. "We thought you might want to hang out..."

"Too busy making out by the look of it," Quil grinned.

"Come in." Jacob got up and turned the music off. I didn't dare move and folded my arms across my lap, willing my hard-on to go down.

Embry sat down on a crate next to the heater and pulled his coat off. "So what's been going on, other than the obvious?"

Quil sat down too and Jacob and I filled them in what had been happening. They were horrified to discover Jacob had been beaten up.

"Did you report it?" Quil asked. "It's about time someone sorted those guys out."

"I don't want it reporting, Charlie Swan will tell my Dad and he'll be upset," Jacob said.

"Anyway, it's already sorted," I put in. "I talked to Bobbie; he promised there won't be any more trouble."

"You _talked_ to Bobbie Delaney? When?" Embry asked.

"Yesterday. He's just a coward at heart." I'd already given Jacob a brief outline of my 'conversation' with Bobbie and he hadn't asked any questions although I'm sure he guessed violence was involved. Now I changed the subject to avoid Embry and Quil asking too much.

After I left Jacob's, I went looking for Jared. I knew roughly where he lived and luckily I spotted his father who was an almost identical older version of him, out in their front yard.

"Mr Cameron?" I said.

"Yeah."

"I'm Paul Lahote, I was looking for Jared."

"Oh, you're that new friend of his," Mr Cameron said. "You're staying with Sam Uley, right?"

"Yes."

He smiled and the look on his face indicated he knew exactly how I came to be friends with Jared.

"He's in the house, go ahead." He indicated the open door.

"Thanks, Sir." I walked in, took my boots off and wandered down the hallway. The house was similar in size and style to Sam's.

"Jared? You here?"

He emerged from a bedroom, looking surprised.

"Hey, Paul, what are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you."

"Sure, come in." He went back into the room and threw himself onto his bed. I closed the door and sat on the swivel chair in front of the computer desk. "So, what's up?" Jared prompted.

"Did you hear what happened to Jacob?"

"I was out of town yesterday with my Dad, what happened?" he frowned.

I recapped finding Jacob beaten up outside the gas station and Jared uttered various expletives under his breath until I finished.

"We need to do something about those guys," he said then.

"I already did," I said. "I went and talked to Bobbie last night."

"Talked?" Jared's eyes narrowed. "What did you do, Paul?"

"Look, it doesn't matter. He's fine and he promised to leave Jacob alone and make sure the others do too. But until they prove it, I want to make sure that either you or I are with Jacob at school all the time."

"Well, that's easy, he's in virtually every one of my classes," Jared said. "The only one he's not in is biology and you're in that so he's not even going to be walking from one part of the school to the other on his own."

"Good." I relaxed now. "I guess there's something else I should tell you. Sam already knows; in fact he was there. I don't know if it's obvious or not to other shifters."

"What?" Jared asked curiously.

"I Imprinted."

"What? When? On who?" Jared's eyes widened. I just grinned. "Oh, shit, you Imprinted on _Jacob_? Does he know?"

"No, of course he doesn't know."

"What did Sam say?"

"Pretty much the same as you. 'Oh, shit'. He thinks it's going to cause trouble when Jacob shifts."

"Why, because he's supposed to be Alpha?"

"Yeah."

Jared smirked. "I don't see why it should as long as you don't mind him... taking the lead."

"Fuck off," I muttered.

I hung out with Jared for another half hour and then went home. Sam was there on his own, eating pizza.

"Em's gone to see her family," he said. "Help yourself if you want some of this."

The pizza was an eighteen inch one with just about every topping available piled onto it. I dug into a couple of slices and fiddled with my cellphone, wishing I could text Jacob, but he had no phone now. Sam was watching television and I glanced up at it as the news came on. The usual depressing stories – fighting in the Middle East, a murder in New York, a house fire killing a whole family in Seattle. I tuned it out until the newsreader's next article caught my attention.

"_And now for some local news. The small town of Forks had a visit from what appeared to be one of Canada's grey wolves Friday night. Local highschool boy Robert Delaney was hospitalised after the wolf apparently attacked his vehicle, causing substantial damage. The boy sustained some injuries, which were luckily restricted to deep scratches to one arm and is said to already have been sent home by his doctor. Town residents are advised to stay indoors after dark where necessary for the present. So far no further reports of wolf sightings in the area have been made, but police are hunting the animal..."_

My jaw tightened a touch. If the cops were out hunting, they might have dogs with them. Wouldn't they me able to track my scent back to the house? Doubtful. It was pouring with rain outside now. Anyway, a scent leading to La Push and then vanishing wouldn't make a lot of sense. Nothing could lead them to me unless Bobbie talked and he obviously wasn't going to do that. Who would believe him? I relaxed and suppressed a grin.

"Robert Delaney; do you know him?" Sam's voice broke into my thoughts.

"Yeah, he's in the same year as me at school," I said, not looking at him.

"Odd to find a wolf this far south, particularly in a town."

"Yeah, well, maybe it just didn't like the smell of the guy. Obviously it didn't intend to kill him or he'd have been dead." I glanced sideways at him for a second. He was staring back at me with narrowed eyes.

"Who did you say was responsible for hurting Jacob?"

"I didn't say."

"You think they'll bother him any more?"

"Unlikely."

"Ok." Sam turned his attention back to the television and shoved another bite of pizza into his mouth.

It was fairly obvious he knew I was responsible for Bobbie's attack, but he didn't chastise me for it. One of the pack's main rules was that we didn't hurt humans, but I guess there were exceptions. Protecting my Imprint and the future Alpha of the pack was the best exception there was.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I was up early on Monday and I walked over to Jacob's house right after breakfast. I had an idea he would probably be trying to think up an excuse not to go to school and he was doing exactly that.

"He's been in the bathroom an hour," Billy told me. "Says he's sick."

"I'll check on him." I went and knocked on the door. "Jacob? You alright?"

He came out immediately and led me into his room, closing the door.

"I'm fine, I just don't feel like going to school. My shoulder still hurts." He avoided my eyes, but I caught them briefly in the mirror and he looked scared.

"Nothing's going to happen," I said. "We've got the same classes all day, I'm not going to be letting you out of my sight."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And if you get detention again, I'll wait outside the theatre until you come out," I added with a grin.

"Hey, you think I'm likely to get detention again?" He began to smile.

"You seem to be in there more than me."

"You're just a bad influence. Alright, I'll go."

I went out to talk to Billy while Jacob sorted out his backpack and put his uniform on, then we set off to the bus stop. Quil and Embry were already there and Jared appeared moments later. Jacob was still nervous and chewed his lip constantly, but as the day wore on it became clear he didn't have anything to worry about. In the morning he and Jared disappeared into the toilets while I was sorting out my locker and Steve who was close by, came to speak to me. He looked extremely wary as if he thought I might bite his head off - literally.

"Paul? Can I have a word?"

"What about?"

"You know what about. I just want to say I'm sorry. Things have been pretty out of control lately. Me and Bobbie shouldn't have done what we did."

"Why did you?"

"Tom thought..."

"Haven't you got minds of your own?" I interrupted. "Tom wasn't even there."

"I know, we were stupid. Anyway, you won't get any more trouble from any of us."

"Even Tom?"

"Yeah. I doubt he'll say anything, but he'll be keeping his distance."

"Good, that's all I want," I said.

"Is...uh..." Steve reddened uncomfortably. "Is Jacob ok? I saw he's at school, so..."

"Yeah, he's ok, no thanks to you."

"I'm sorry," Steve said again and made himself scarce quickly just as Jared and Jacob appeared.

"What did he want?" Jared asked.

"To apologise. He says there's going to be no more trouble from any of them."

"Good, let's hope they stick to it." He lowered his voice as Jacob went to speak to Embry and Quil. "Did you see the news last night?"

"Yeah, usual depressing stuff," I said.

"Interesting story about that wolf."

"Mmm."

Jared grinned suddenly. "Did Sam say anything?"

"No. He knows, though."

"I guess he thought it was in a good cause."

The next lesson was history, my most hated subject. We were still studying World War II and I daydreamed through most of the lesson, thinking about something I intended to do in the lunch break. When the class ended, I told Jacob I had an errand to run and that I'd catch up with him in the food hall. He set off with the other three guys and I headed for the school gates.

Early that morning I had dug out the tin box I kept my savings in and counted what was in there. My Dad had always given me an allowance when he was sober enough to remember or decided that I hadn't done anything sufficiently bad for it to be withheld. I had never spent very much, thinking a day might come when I would need it, so the tin was jammed full of bills which totalled almost four hundred dollars. I had taken a hundred and fifty out, unsure how much I would need and the money was now virtually burning a hole in my pocket.

I hurried down the street into the centre of Forks and stepped into the AT&T store. There were a couple of customers in there, but it was fairly quiet and an assistant came over to me almost immediately.

"May I help you?"

"Yeah, I need a new cellphone," I said.

"Are you looking for a contract or prepaid?"

"Prepaid. I'm not old enough for a contract," I said with a grin.

"Sure, well you can choose from anything on this display here," the assistant said, indicating the wall behind me. "The price tags include twenty dollars worth of credit. I'll leave you to have a look, just let me know if you need some help."

She walked off to speak to someone else and I turned to look at the display. It was easy to choose. Several of the phones were cheap, plastic and very basic and over half of them were way over my budget. That left three in the middle - one pink and two black. The black Sony was a hundred and twenty-nine dollars and included a decent camera and various other functions. I attracted the assistant's attention again.

"I'll take this one," I said. "Any chance I can get it set up ready?"

"No problem. We keep some of the popular models ready to go in the back, I'll get one for you."

Fifteen minutes later I was on my way back to school with the cellphone in my pocket and its accessories in a bag. The phone was charged enough to last about four hours and I had already saved my number in the contacts. I went into the food hall and found Jacob and the others sitting at a table in one corner. They had all finished eating and were just talking and apparently waiting for me. Jacob got up when he saw me and left the table.

"What have you been doing?" he asked, eyeing the AT&T bag curiously.

"I told you, I had an errand. Come with me." We left the hall and went outside the building, stopping in a corner of one of the yards. "I got you something," I said, pulling the phone out of my pocket. Jacob's eyes widened as I put it into his hand.

"You bought this for me? Seriously? You shouldn't have..." He began to grin.

"Well, you need a phone, don't you?"

"Yeah, but..." He stepped closer and kissed my cheek. "Thank you." I slid my arms around him and kissed him again, on the mouth. When I looked up, Tom and Bobbie were walking past us. Both glanced in our direction and then looked away quickly, saying nothing. I pushed Jacob away a little.

"I already put my number in the phone," I said. "Just don't text me in class."

"What makes you think I'd want to?" Jacob grinned.

I gave him the bag now. "The charger and stuff is in here."

Jacob leaned against the wall beside me now and played with the phone until Jared, Embry and Quil suddenly appeared, looking for us.

"Hey, is that new?" Embry asked.

"Yeah, Paul bought it for me," Jacob beamed.

Jared caught my eye and smirked, but Embry and Quil just looked astonished.

The rest of the week passed without incident. We had no more trouble from Tom's gang - they barely even looked in our direction, let alone said or did anything and it seemed that Bobbie's little scare had put an end to it. Every time I thought about it I couldn't help being amused that he had wet himself.

By the weekend Jacob's bruises had virtually all disappeared and his shoulder improved enough to do most things so long as he didn't raise his arm too high or try lifting anything heavy. I spent the whole of Saturday with him, just the two of us. Charlie Swan had driven over to collect Billy and they planned to go to a football game and then spend some time at Charlie's house. Jacob was invited too, but he had declined. I spent part of the day helping him in the workshop where he was rebuilding a motorcycle he'd rescued from a scrap yard.

"Is that ever going to run?" I teased him.

"Sure it will, when I finish with it."

By the middle of the afternoon I'd had enough working on the bike and couldn't keep my hands off Jacob any longer. I grasped the wrench he was holding, took it out of his hand and put it down.

"What are you doing?"

"What I've been dying to do all day." I slid my arms around him and pulled him close to me, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Wait, I need to wash my hands."

There was a sink in the corner of the workshop and he washed up quickly. I went to stand behind him and pulled the elastic band off his hair. He turned around a moment later, wiping his hands dry on his sweatshirt. I rested my hands either side of him on the edge of the sink and pressed my body against his, trapping him there as I bent to kiss him. I knew we wouldn't be getting any interruptions that afternoon. Billy was in Forks, Jared was hanging out with Sam and we had told Embry and Quil we were 'busy'. They had better things to do anyway; Embry had the hots for some girl on the reservation and they planned to go looking for her.

Jacob melted against me, sliding his arms around me as I thrust my tongue into his mouth. I loved kissing him; he turned my bones to water and my head to mush. I raised my hands to run them through his hair, nudging his thighs apart with my knee and grinding myself against him. He was as hard as I was and just as eager from the way he kissed me back and gasped into my mouth. I backed off a few inches, grasped the bottom of his sweatshirt and pulled it up and off, then did the same with my own t-shirt. When I pressed myself against him once more I relished the feel of his skin on mine, his heart thumping under my hand as I ran it over his chest.

I broke the kiss and lowered my head further to brush my lips against his neck, then his throat as he tipped his head back. I bit gently and he groaned, his nails digging into my back. I was filled with excitement and more than a touch of nerves suddenly, which was new to me. Maybe it had something to do with me being so crazy about him. I rested my hands on his waist and drew him away from the sink, edging slowly backwards until I reached the couch in the corner, nibbling at his neck and his ear the whole time. I let go of him for a moment and kicked my boots off before I sat down. Jacob did the same and suddenly we were lying on the couch, me resting half on top of him, my right leg between his, my dick throbbing against his thigh as I began to devour him again.

I dragged my lips away from his and trailed the tip of my tongue down the middle of his chest, stroking my hand lower over his flat stomach to the top of his jeans. He squirmed under my touch, breathing hard and when I glanced up at his face, his eyes were closed and his lower lip trapped between his teeth. I turned my attention back to what I was doing, beginning to unfasten his jeans and edging further down the couch so I could replace my hand on his stomach with my mouth. He was wearing tight grey jersey shorts, the same type he'd been wearing when I watched him dive into the sea when I first moved to La Push. They disguised absolutely nothing and when I ran my fingers lightly over his dick, I could feel through the fabric that he was circumcised, the same as I was. His erection twitched under my hand and he groaned as I stroked it more firmly. My own pants were feeling uncomfortably tight and I paused a moment to unfasten them and relieve some of the pressure, then grasped Jacob's jeans and slowly pulled them off.

I kneeled back on the couch, one leg either side of one of his. I didn't really have an idea of what I was going to do; I was excited and terrified both at the same time and I thought I might come at any moment, even without Jacob laying one finger on me. I ignored it the best I could and turned my attention back to him. I just wanted to explore him all over, kiss him, taste him, make him feel good. I ran my hand up the inside of his thigh and bent forward again, kissing his stomach, nipping at his skin, cupping his balls for a moment and squeezing gently before I pulled his shorts down enough to free his erection and wrapped my hand around it.

Jacob groaned and shifted slightly under me, his body trembling and I had to remind myself no one had ever touched him before. Nor would they in the future, I thought with a smile. In addition, I was about to do something I'd never done before and never imagined I would even want to. I brushed my lips against the head of his dick, then traced the tip of my tongue around it. Jacob's breath hissed out through his teeth and he gripped the edge of the sofa with one hand, his knuckles turning white. I ran my tongue down his shaft and back up again, then captured the end of it in my mouth and sucked gently, trying to keep my teeth out of the way.

"Shit!" Jacob gasped.

I drew more of him into my mouth and slowly began to move my head up and down, following its movement with my hand, squeezing each time I reached the base of his dick. I knew what felt good and it gave me a reasonable idea of how to achieve that. I guessed I was succeeding as Jacob writhed and groaned, trying to thrust himself deeper into my throat. I wasn't quite sure yet that I wanted to go so far as letting him come in my mouth, but there was still something else I wanted to try first. I pulled my head back for a moment and touched my free hand to my tongue, wetting it with saliva, then when I wrapped my lips around him again I slid my hand under him, feeling for the small tight hole, pushing one finger carefully into it. It was tight and so hot, I immediately began to imagine what it would feel like if I fucked him and my dick throbbed fiercely, desperate to try out exactly that.

I slid my finger in further, then drew it back again, continuing to use my mouth and my other hand on him at the same time. I tried a second finger and for a moment his muscles tightened up, preventing it going further in. I hesitated, but then he relaxed again and I slid it into him alongside the first. I could feel the pressure building up in him and I moved faster until his voice suddenly stopped me.

"Oh, God," he gasped. "Ahhh...don't."

I stilled my hands and pulled my head back, thinking he probably didn't like my fingers inside him. Damn.

"You want me to stop?" I asked softly.

"_No!_" he groaned. "Please!"

I grinned and took him into my mouth again. The base of his dick was pulsing in my hand and I knew he only had seconds left. What the hell; I wasn't going to stop. When he came, I swallowed and found that I actually liked the taste of him. I got up slowly, quickly threw my jeans off and then rested my hands either side of him on the couch, lowering my body onto him until I lay between his thighs, holding my weight up on my elbows. He slid his arms around me and held on tight, panting into my neck.

"God, Paul," he gasped. "I never expected you to do...that."

"What did you think I'd do? Just fuck you and have my own fun?" I said, my lips brushing his ear as I spoke.

"I don't know. Maybe. Do you want to fuck me?"

"Yeah, I want to," I said at once. My dick, still trapped in my shorts, twitched against his stomach. I was aching and I couldn't wait to feel what it was like having those tight muscles squeezing me, but I doubted I had enough saliva to provide sufficient lubrication. "Just not yet," I added. "I want to get hold of some lube or something or I'll just hurt you." I slid off him and lay beside him instead.

He rested his hand on my chest and stroked it slowly downwards. His hand shook slightly as he pulled my shorts down a few inches and then wrapped his fingers around me. My breathing quickened immediately as his hand began to slide up and down, squeezing harder each time he reached the bottom and rubbing his thumb lightly over the head at the end of each upstroke.

"Is this ok?" Jacob whispered in my ear after a minute.

"More than ok. Jesus," I gasped.

He wasn't doing anything different to what I'd done to myself a thousand times, but because it was him, the person I'd wanted so much for such a long time, it was driving me crazy. I knew I probably wouldn't even last as long as he had, especially since I'd already had the pleasure of touching him, tasting him, hearing him gasp and groan, all of it turning me on beyond belief. I was lying on my back, one arm around him as he rested on his side and when I came it spurted all over my stomach and chest and Jacob kept on pumping me until he'd squeezed every drop out of me and the sensation was too overpowering for me to stand it any more. Panting, I pulled my shorts off completely and used them to wipe myself clean, then dropped them on the floor and turned onto my side to face Jacob. His eyes were half closed and he glanced up at me through his long lashes almost shyly. I lifted my hand to touch his face and kissed him softly, breathlessly.

I was in love with him; there was absolutely no question about it and I knew I would have been even without the Imprint. He was everything I'd ever wanted and I was overwhelmed that he seemed to want me just as much.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

I finally dragged myself away from Jacob with great reluctance just before ten and ran home. We'd ordered some Chinese takeout, eaten in the house and then returned to the workshop for the evening where more kissing had quickly led to us jacking each other off; twice. I should have been exhausted, but I was pumped with energy and excitement and doubted I would sleep a wink. I did my best not to grin like an idiot when I walked into the house, but it was impossible not to give something away.

"What's with you?" Sam asked idly as I went into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water.

"What do you mean?" I forced myself to look more serious, but I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror by the back door - Emily had mirrors in every room - and noticed I was flushed and my eyes gleaming.

"Hmm...maybe I don't want to know." Sam grinned at me. "Keep yourself free tomorrow; now we've actually got enough guys to call ourselves a pack, we're going to have regular days for just us. There's a council meeting tomorrow night too; you can come with us. You'll learn more about our history."

"The whole day?" I frowned. "But..." I couldn't imagine getting through a whole day without seeing Jacob. It would surely kill me. I felt an immediate emptiness in my chest as I looked up at the clock and discovered it was thirty-three hours until I would be going to catch the bus for school on Monday.

"Starting at noon," Sam said.

"Ok." I relaxed slightly. "What am I going to tell Jacob we're doing?"

"Anything you like. Family stuff."

"I don't see why we can't tell him what's going on," I said. "You said it's his destiny; it's not like we'd be telling someone who's not going to end up phasing."

"No, Paul. It's not the way it's done," he said firmly.

I went to bed a few minutes later, my happy mood spoiled by irritation. I hated the fact that I had to keep this secret from Jacob and it bugged me even more that I couldn't spend the whole of Sunday with him either. I grabbed my phone and sent him a text message.

'Just got into bed - wish you were here.'

'Me too. Today was amazing.'

I grinned as I read his answer and my annoyance vanished in a second. I sent another message and we carried on a conversation for maybe half an hour before it came to an end. I almost said one more thing to him and then changed my mind.

'I love you.'

I even typed it, my heart hammering as if it meant to jump out of my chest. Then I thought, 'What if it's too much? What if he freaks out? What if he doesn't answer? Then I'll feel like a dick and worry about seeing him tomorrow. Anyway, I don't want to say it in a text message.'

I deleted it, one letter at a time and typed instead, 'See you tomorrow. x'

It took me a while to get to sleep. I kept wishing Jacob was with me, sleeping in my arms and wondered if I could somehow get Sam to agree to him staying over. I didn't really think he would say no, but I imagined actually asking him would be pretty embarrassing.

Eventually I fell asleep and when I woke and glanced at the clock, I was horrified to find it was already almost ten. I catapulted out of bed and ran into the bathroom to shower, cursing under my breath as I scrubbed myself at top speed and dragged on some clothes without even bothering to dry off properly. I barely had any time to see Jacob before I would have to leave him and spend the afternoon and evening bored out of my skull with Sam and Jared. I rushed to the door and shoved my feet into my boots.

"Twelve o'clock, Paul!" Sam called from the kitchen.

"Yeah!"

I flew out of the house and sprinted over to Jacob's. The workshop door was open and I found him in there working on the bike. He stood up and wiped his hands on a rag as I raced in.

"Something after you?" he grinned.

"Just couldn't wait to get here." I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a kiss. "I meant to be earlier, but I only just woke up," I said.

"Me too. Still, we got all day." He pressed himself against me and kissed my neck. Damnit.

"That's just it, we don't," I said with a sigh. "Sam wants me home today; some family Sunday thing. I'm sorry." I hugged him tighter.

"It's ok. I guess it's cool that he wants you to join in with stuff. Better than having family that hits you."

"Yeah, there is that." I hadn't thought of it that way, but it didn't change the fact that I resented not being able to tell Jacob what I was really doing.

We spent the hour and a half that I had working on the bike together. It was starting to look like a bike, rather than a heap of junk and much as I'd teased Jacob about his liking for scrap metal, I was actually pretty impressed.

"Are you going to sell it when it's done or keep it?" I asked him.

"Keep it," he said. "Couple more months I'll even be able to ride it on the road."

"I hope you're going to teach me to ride it."

"Sure," he grinned.

"Maybe I'll even get my own for you to fix up," I said.

I hadn't considered getting a bike before, but it would be cheaper to buy and to run than a car and certainly more fun. I dragged myself away from him ten minutes before noon and ran home. It was going to be a very long day.

That actually wasn't the case. Sam took Jared and me out in his truck to the woods and once there, we all phased and ran together, Sam telling us about the threat of vampires, that there had been no sightings as yet, but when there were, we would patrol more regularly, often at night during the week. Until then Sundays would be practise runs as we were eventually joined by other shifters. Time flew by as we raced through the woods and I found my only problem was keeping my thoughts to subjects I didn't mind Sam and Jared hearing. Once or twice I found myself thinking about Jacob; kissing him, taking his clothes off, touching him. I was quickly mortified when Jared's voice came into my head.

_'Jesus, Paul, put a lid on it!'_

_'Sorry.' _

I shoved Jacob to the back of my mind and forced him to stay there until in the late afternoon we returned to the truck and phased back. As Sam drove us back to the house, I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket to send Jacob a text and discovered he had sent me one almost two hours before.

'I miss you. x.'

"Shit," I muttered.

"What's up?" Jared asked.

"Nothing." I began tapping out a message.

'Sorry, battery died. Miss you too. Can't stop thinking about you. x.'

I pressed 'send' and sat back in the seat with a sigh. I hated lying to him and I was starting to have that horrible empty feeling inside me that descended the minute I was apart from him for too long.

"Missing Jacob?" Jared taunted.

"Yes!" I snapped. My phoned beeped and I looked at it again.

'Maybe you could come over after you finish family stuff?'

I grinned. 'Might be late.'

'Will wait up. Dad is out tonight.'

"The meeting tonight - how long does it last?" I asked.

"A few hours. Might be a little longer than usual tonight - it's the first one for both you and Jared. Should be done by ten."

"So can I extend my curfew a bit?"

"It's school tomorrow," Sam reminded me.

"Oh, come on. Please?"

Jared smirked. "I feel your pain."

"Fuck off," I muttered.

"Eleven. Not a minute after," said Sam.

'See you soon. x,' I texted.

When we got back to the house, Emily was just finishing a meal for us. Sam went and stood behind her in the kitchen, kissing her neck while she dished out food onto the plates.

"Steak for three hungry wolves," she said with a smile.

After we ate, Sam drove us off to the meeting. A number of people were already there seated around a fire and I immediately spotted Billy with Harry Clearwater.

"Oh, shit," I said under my breath. It hadn't occurred to me that Billy would be there, which was stupid really, given who he was. He looked up and nodded at me and I went over to him.

"Paul. Glad to see you here."

"Hello, Billy."

"Sit down," he instructed and I dropped onto a section of tree trunk next to his wheelchair. I guessed my demeanour must have told him I was fed up. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Not really. I hate this. I hate lying to him. Jacob," I blurted out miserably.

"It won't be for long. He'll join you soon enough," Billy said.

I felt even worse, that I was sitting there talking to Jacob's Dad, while he waited at home thinking I was having some kind of family get together with Sam and Emily.

The meeting turned out to be pretty interesting. Billy talked about the history of the Quileute tribe; how we had always had magic in our blood, making us transform into spirit warriors - the shape-shifters. Many generations back, they came across a vampire for the first time, discovering he had slaughtered some of the tribe. Humans were powerless against the creature, but the wolves' sharp teeth and claws were able to tear through the vampire's hard cold flesh and kill it. The creature's mate came to take her vengeance out on the Quileute village, killing many more of the tribe until with the help of the chief's third wife who distracted the female vampire with her blood by sacrificing herself, the one remaining shape-shifter - the chief - was able to overpower and kill the monster.

Since then, vampires returned every few generations and whenever the threat was sensed, the gene would make itself known in the descendents of that long-ago chief, these now being the Uley family, the Ateara family and the Blacks. I learned that Jared's great grandmother was a cousin of Jacob's great grandfather and of course I was distantly related to the Uley family.

"The Clearwaters also have a link to this," Billy explained, glancing at Harry Clearwater who sat the other side of him. "Sue was a Uley before she married Harry. So it's likely that Seth with eventually shift."

I hated to admit it, but I'd actually enjoyed myself and found the day fascinating, although I still felt sad and guilty that Jacob wasn't part of it. As the meeting came to an end, Harry wheeled Billy over to his truck to take him home and I excused myself to Sam and sprinted off. I made it to Jacob's house before Billy did and knocked briefly before letting myself in. It was nine forty-five so I still had an hour. Jacob appeared in the hall a second after I stepped in the door.

"My Dad's not back yet, but he normally gets in around ten," he said. "He goes to these council meetings every so often, with the tribe leaders. He says they sit around a campfire talking about our history and stuff like that."

"Sounds interesting," I said, feeling like a complete shit.

"Yeah, I guess. Dad says he'll take me along one day. So what have you been doing?"

"Uh...just hanging out. Emily cooked dinner. I'd rather have been with you."

I slid my arms around him and hugged him. I felt awful and I didn't know how I would be able to carry on like this until he shifted. Even then, when he did join us he'd find out I'd been lying to him and he'd be hurt, probably mad. I held him tighter, my face pressed into his neck and just breathed in the scent of him. The sound of a truck pulling up outside indicated the arrival of Harry and Billy and I let go of him reluctantly.

"Let's go in my room. If we leave the light off and stay quiet my Dad'll just think I'm asleep."

Jacob led the way into his room and we closed the door and lay on his bed in the darkness. I slid my arms around him again and he snuggled close to me, one hand resting on my chest, his breath warm on my neck. We heard the door open and Billy's chair rolling into the hallway.

"Thanks, Harry. I'll see you," he said and then the door closed again. A moment later Billy's voice came softly through the bedroom door. "Jacob? You up?"

Jacob didn't answer and a few minutes later we heard Billy's bedroom door open and close and then various sounds of him getting ready for bed.

"Aren't you supposed to be home by ten?" Jacob whispered suddenly.

"I got an extra hour." I brushed my lips against his and he kissed me back warmly. I immediately deepened it and in a moment I began to get hard. I slid my hand down his back to his butt and pulled him tighter against me, discovering that he was just as aroused as I was. I began to undo the buttons of his shirt, stroking my hand over his chest beneath it and feeling his heart thumping rapidly. I wanted to touch him and be touched so badly that I ached, but I was a little too aware of Billy in his room the other side of the bathroom. Still, if we didn't roll about and make the bed creak...

"Can you be quiet?" I whispered.

"Yes."

I lowered my hand and unfastened his jeans quickly. He drew away from me slightly and wriggled out of them, dropping them off the edge of the bed, then lay down again carefully. Those damned sexy jersey shorts he wore hid nothing as usual and I rubbed my hand over the outside of them, feeling his erection twitching impatiently underneath. I pulled the shorts down a few inches and grasped it, sliding my hand up and down slowly. Jacob moaned and I grimaced.

"Sshh," I breathed in his ear.

He bit his lip and held on tight to my neck as I continued, moving my hand faster, making him tremble and gasp. It didn't take long for him to come and he groaned again, the sound muffled this time as he pressed his face against my chest. I sniggered quietly.

"Remind me to bring a gag next time," I said softly.

Jacob snorted with laughter. "I'd like to see if you can be any quieter."

"Well, don't waste any time finding out," I prompted.

My balls ached and my dick was trapped uncomfortably in my jeans. I unfastened them and it slid out of the opening in my boxers at once. I closed my eyes as Jacob wrapped his hand around it. I could feel him shifting his position on the bed as he began stroking me and then suddenly I felt his hair brushing the lower part of my stomach, a second before his lips touched the head of my dick.

"Shit!" I hissed.

"Sshh!" Jacob responded. I felt his breath on my shaft and I shivered.

"You're not playing fair," I whispered.

Jacob just chuckled and slid his tongue down my length and back up again, following it with his hand. It was a torturous few minutes as he teased me with lips, tongue and fingers, but didn't actually suck me. It was all I could do not to writhe about, let alone keep quiet. I warned him when I was about to come, in case he didn't want a taste of me and then sank my teeth into a corner of the pillow in an effort not to make too much noise. Jacob lay back down beside me and moved his hand faster, making me spurt all over the front of my t-shirt and despite the pillow, my groan was way too loud.

"Damn you!" I muttered, gasping for breath. I pulled his hand off me and turned my face into his hair. "Just you wait."

"Don't forget the gag next time," Jacob said softly. "For yourself."

We went on teasing each other for a few more minutes, then just kissed and cuddled until Jacob's clock showed ten forty-five and I pulled away from him grudgingly. Rather than open his door and then the front door, which would have made too much noise, he opened the bedroom window and I lowered myself carefully out into the yard. I leaned back in to give him one last kiss and then jogged home.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The next day I went shopping during the lunch break again. The store I intended to go to was off down a side street away from Forks' main shopping area and I glanced around me cautiously to make sure no one I knew was about before I hurried down there. It would be just my luck to run into someone like Emily or one of my teachers or Charlie Swan, God forbid. He'd probably arrest me. I easily looked eighteen and thought I could get away with going in the shop, but the Chief wouldn't be very impressed to see me going in there when I still hadn't reached my sixteenth birthday.

I was in luck - there wasn't a soul about and there was no one in the 'Love Shack' either. I bought lube and was served by an assistant who reminded me very much of Eugene Bentley. He wrapped the bottle in brown paper and gave me a knowing wink as I paid. I left the store and almost ran into an elderly lady walking down the street, who gave me a horrified look as she edged around me. I smirked to myself and sprinted back to school, then went to put my purchase in my locker for the afternoon, just as Jared appeared.

"What have you got there?" he asked.

"Nothing." I shoved it into the locker quickly and slammed the door.

"Must be something you shouldn't have then," he grinned. "Come on, you can tell me."

"No, I can't. Seriously, you don't want to know." I took the key out of my locker door and pocketed it. Jacob, Embry and Quil appeared a moment later and Jared dropped it. I guessed he was too busy staring at the same thing I was.

That morning the three guys had been wearing their usual clothes - school uniforms, jackets, even scarves with the icy winds that were blowing through Forks at the moment. Even in the morning lessons, we just hadn't noticed. Now Embry was carrying his coat, his tie loose and his shirt sleeves pulled tight around his biceps. When he turned around to open his locker, the fabric was taut across his shoulders. Embry was the skinniest kid out of the five of us, so it made it all the more noticeable. I exchanged glances with Jared and he raised one eyebrow and stepped closer to me again.

"Did you notice that before today?" he asked in a low voice.

"No."

"Better keep an eye on him. I'll call Sam tonight."

Sam instructed both Jared and me to watch Embry for further signs for the time being. Sudden muscle growth was the first indication, then the rise in body temperature. However, even if there was no further development yet, he planned to talk to Embry in a couple of weeks. I was disappointed that it appeared Jacob wasn't going to be next and the secret was only going to become more difficult to keep when Embry joined us.

That weekend there was to be no 'family day' on Sunday. Sam planned to take Emily to a show in Port Angeles on Saturday night and they were staying in an hotel for the night. The minute he told me of their plans I was filled with excitement. I would have the house to myself for a whole night. I still thought I better ask though - knowing Sam he would find out anyway if I didn't.

"Can Jacob stay over?" I blurted out, not looking at him.

"I'm guessing he will whether I say yes or no," Sam said with a grin. "It's fine. We'll be home around noon on Sunday."

"Ok. Thanks." I knew my face was red and I took myself off to my room quickly. I couldn't wait to have Jacob sleep the whole night with me. Remembering Sunday, trying to be quiet with Billy right down the hallway, I grinned to myself. It wouldn't even matter if we were loud. I grabbed my cellphone and called Jacob.

"Hey, Paul." He answered on the second ring.

"Hey. What are you doing Saturday night?"

"Something with you, I hope."

"Sam and Emily are going to Port Angeles over night. I got the house to myself until noon on Sunday. Do you want to stay over?"

"Uh...no, not really," Jacob said.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say. I had thought he'd want to. Maybe he just wasn't ready for that.

"I'm joking!" Jacob snorted a moment later. "You are too easy to wind up."

"Son of a bitch," I growled.

Jacob just laughed some more. I lay down on the bed to talk to him for a while longer, imagining him there next to me. Just a few more days and we would be waking up together.

The rest of the week dragged, but at last Saturday came. I spent the morning over at Jacob's helping him work on the bike. He had a beat up old car in the corner of the workshop too, which he'd told me one of his Dad's friends had let him have, rather than scrap it. He planned to fix it up when he finished the bike and I was more envious than ever.

We went back to Sam's house towards the end of the afternoon. It seemed strangely silent without Sam and Emily there. Emily had left a note on the kitchen table with some money to order takeout. We ordered pizza and lounged on the sofa watching television for a while. I felt stupidly nervous and it was obvious Jacob was too. He was jumpy and didn't seem able to relax. Maybe because we had planned this, rather than it just happening spontaneously.

A movie was just beginning - 'Predator' - and we decided to watch it. I switched the lights off and stretched out on one side on the sofa, pulling Jacob down in front of me. He was so tense and I began to think what we had been planning was probably a bad idea. I slid my arm around him and kissed his neck, then just cuddled him as we started to watch the movie.

Gradually he started to relax and edged backwards so that he was pressed harder against me. My hand was resting on his chest and I could feel his heartbeat slow down a touch. I moved my hand lower to his stomach, pulling his t-shirt up a few inches so I could put my hand underneath. I could feel the outline of his abs, which I thought strange. There was no visible sign of them before and I hadn't felt them when I touched him a week ago. I brushed my lips against his ear and moved my hand to his arm - firm with developing muscles. He shivered slightly and I pulled his hair away from his neck and pressed my lips there, where his neck joined his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" I said softly.

"Yeah." He pulled away from me for a moment, then lay down again facing me. "Sorry. I'm...nervous."

"Don't be." Maybe it was too soon. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want," I said. "More than anything, I just want to have you with me all night; wake up with you."

He smiled suddenly and leaned closer to kiss me lightly on the lips. I slid my arms around him again, my heart beginning to hammer. I felt so much for him; right then, it was almost like the moment I Imprinted. I wasn't aware of anything else around me, only him lying in my arms, looking into my eyes, holding me there like a magnet.

"I love you, Jacob." I was glad I hadn't said it in a text.

He lowered his eyes and turned his face into my neck, his hair brushing my cheek.

"I love you."

It was a faint whisper, his breath warm on my skin as he said it. My heart almost leaped out of my chest. We just lay there holding each other, the movie forgotten. I could have stayed like that all night and not done a thing. After a while though, Jacob drew back a few inches and kissed me, teasing my lips with the tip of his tongue, his nervousness apparently gone and seconds later I was devouring him, plunging my tongue into his mouth, pulling him tighter against me, feeling him growing hard just as I was. He hooked one leg over mine and I rolled over, pinning him beneath me, thrusting my dick against his and wishing our clothes could magically disappear without us having to tear ourselves away from each other and take them off.

I was aching, my balls tight, my heart pounding and I pulled back reluctantly and sat up, grabbing the remote control to turn the television off. Then I got to my feet, grasped Jacob's hand and led him into my room. I closed the door behind us and peeled my t-shirt off. Jacob did the same and I noticed the muscles in his arms flex as he raised them above his head. I stared harder, wondering if he was really filling out or if it was wishful thinking on my part. I reached out and tucked my fingers into the waistband of his jeans, pulling him towards me, kissing him as I began to unfasten the buttons and push the garment down his legs. He stepped out of them and backed away from me, dropping onto the bed. I quickly got rid of my pants and shorts and joined him, kneeling over him while I took his underwear off.

I lay down and slid my arms around him again, holding him close against me as we continued kissing. His erection twitched against my stomach and mine nudged it as I shifted my position slightly. I slid my hand down his back to his butt, pulling him tighter against me for a moment before I slid it between us instead, grasping his dick and stroking my hand up and down it slowly. Jacob rolled onto his back, breaking the kiss, gasping and I bent to kiss and nibble at his chest and stomach as I continued jacking him off.

After a minute I propped myself up a little and reached out to the drawer in the bed table, fumbling it open and pulling the bottle of lube out. It had a pump action dispenser and I squirted some into my hand, lathering it over my fingers. I nudged Jacob's thighs apart with my knee, crouching over him and gently sliding one finger up into him as I continued rubbing and squeezing his dick.

"Oh, God," he groaned, thrusting himself harder into my hand.

I carefully inserted a second finger and slid them in and out in time with my hand moving up and down his shaft. Lube was a hell of a lot better than saliva, I noticed. I tried scissoring my fingers a little, stretching him, watching his face for signs I was causing him pain. There was none; his neck was arched back, his head rolling around on the pillow, arms stretched out as he gripped the edges of the mattress.

My hard-on bumped impatiently against my stomach as I watched Jacob come, panting and groaning loudly as he spurted all over himself. I withdrew my fingers slowly, grabbed a handful of tissues from beside the bed and wiped him clean. Then I lowered my body onto him, resting between his thighs and propping myself up on my elbows. He was still hard and I rubbed my dick against his. He opened his eyes slowly, slid one arm around me and pushed me back a few inches, putting the other hand between us, squeezing me.

I was so incredibly turned on already that the slightest touch had me groaning and the thought that I was between his legs, inches away from fucking him almost made me lose control without actually doing anything. I was still a little nervous, but I wanted him so much. I was just worried I would spoil things; that he wouldn't like it. He had seemed so tense and uncomfortable when we were in the lounge room.

I pulled his hand off me before he made me come and nibbled at his ear. He drew his knees up either side of me and moved his hand down from my back to my butt, pulling me harder against him. Maybe I was just worrying too much.

"Are you sure you want this?" I whispered.

"Yeah," he said without hesitation.

My heart rate sped up and I pulled back a little, reaching for the lube again, filling my hand with it and covering myself in it. It was cool and slippery and I immediately wondered why I hadn't tried it out when I was playing with myself alone; it felt amazing on me. Hesitantly I guided myself to Jacob's tight hole, wondering how, even with the lube, I was going to fit in there. The head slid in and then he sucked his breath in sharply and his muscles tightened up, pushing me back out.

"Sorry," he said softly.

"Shall I stop?"

"No."

I guided myself in again and this time he relaxed under me. I slid forward a couple of inches and held my breath. He was so hot and tight and so slippery from the lube, I knew I wasn't going to last long. I pushed myself deeper and it felt almost as if he were sucking me into him. When I was in all the way, I pulled back a little and then thrust forward more firmly.

"Oh, Jesus," Jacob groaned.

For a second I wondered if I had hurt him, but his head was rolled back, his eyes closed and his face had taken on a look of pure pleasure. Grinning, I thrust harder and he groaned louder, his body beginning to move in time with mine. Nothing had ever felt so incredible and I doubted I would be able to keep going even another minute.

"Open your eyes," I panted. I wanted to see the expression in them when he came.

He looked up slowly and his eyes met mine. They were almost completely black, the pupils so widely dilated they made the dark brown irises virtually disappear. He closed them almost immediately.

"Don't do that...look at me," I repeated.

He opened his eyes again, his cheeks flushing; even that was a turn on to me and I immediately felt myself beginning to lose control. Jacob was right with me, his muscles tightening on me, nails digging into the flesh of my back. As I began to come inside him, I felt his dick, trapped between our stomachs, spurting forcefully. Shuddering, I stopped moving and let myself slip out of him although I stayed where I was, dropping my head forward and pressing my face into his neck, gasping for breath.

Eventually I rolled off him onto my back and slid my arm under his neck to pull him against me. He rested his head against my shoulder, a hand on my chest. His skin was slick with sweat, just as mine was. I turned my head and kissed his cheek.

"Can I get a shower?" he asked after a minute.

"Sure. Want to share?" I grinned.

"Ok."

He pressed closer to me for a second and kissed my neck, then rolled away and got up. I followed him slowly as he headed for the bathroom, a stupid smile plastered to my face. I couldn't even think of a suitable word to describe how I felt - maybe 'besotted' would do it.

We showered together, fooling about with the shower gel and a sponge, lathering and teasing each other until the water ran cold and Jacob leaped out of it with a yelp. I stayed where I was for a few more minutes, relishing the coolness on my hot skin.

"How can you stand there and not even flinch?" Jacob said. "It's freezing."

"Guess I'm just tougher than you," I smirked.

I turned it off at last and grabbed a towel. He still looked more defined to me than usual, but his body temperature certainly hadn't changed. Damn.

We returned to my bed and switched on the television, snuggling together under the quilt while we watched part of 'Predator 2'. Clearly the channel was showing the movies back to back.

Eventually Jacob got up to go to the bathroom.

"Have you got any spare toothbrushes here? I didn't bring one," he said.

"Just use mine, it's the red one," I said absently, forgetting it was currently the only one.

I rolled over and pressed my face into the pillow, breathing in the scent of Jacob. I didn't move until he came back to bed and then I dragged myself to the bathroom, yawning. I had better brush my teeth too, otherwise I'd wake up in the morning with Jacob, kiss him and knock him out with my breath. I grinned to myself, then scrubbed my teeth and emptied my bladder at the same time before I went back to my room and dived into the bed.

Jacob turned away from me and I moulded myself to his back and slid my arms around him, my face in his neck. The worst thing about this weekend was going to be letting him go home again the next day. I never wanted to let him go at all.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

When I opened my eyes in the morning my clock was showing seven-thirty. I was alone and for a moment my heart almost stopped until I noticed Jacob's clothes on the floor and heard water running in the bathroom. I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow as I heard him coming back, pretending to be asleep.

Jacob sat down on the bed and then after a moment he bent down and kissed my ear. His hair fell forwards over his shoulder and brushed my cheek.

"You awake?" he whispered.

I wondered what he'd do next and did my best to breathe evenly and stay still.

"Paul?" His teeth gently nipped my neck and my heartbeat quickened. My dick was already hard.

Jacob's hand touched my shoulder and ran lightly down my arm over my bicep. I grunted softly as if I was just waking and turned more onto my side. He edged his hand under the quilt and explored my chest, then my stomach, the back of his hand bumping my erection. I opened my eyes, unable to suppress a groan.

"Molesting me in my sleep?" I teased.

He snatched his hand back.

"Hey, don't stop."

I rolled onto my back, kicked the quilt off me and slid my arms around him. He tucked his hair behind his ears and leaned over to kiss me, his lips caressing mine softly. I moved my hand to the back of his neck, gripping him firmly as I thrust my tongue into his mouth. He moaned and pressed his body against mine, his erection nudging my hip. I ran my hands down his body and pulled him onto me, tucking my hands under his butt and shifting him forwards as he drew his knees up under him so that he was sitting on my thighs, his balls resting against the base of my dick. He grasped me in one hand and himself in the other and began to stroke both of us at the same time. I breathed out fast, instantly aching to fuck him. I reached out for the lube and squirted some onto the end of his hard-on and then mine. He spread it down both shafts, gasping and biting his lip as the slippery fluid coated him. I grinned and watched him for a moment, then put my hands on his hips and pulled him forward again, lifting him up slightly. He rested one hand on the bed next to my head and guided my dick with the other, teasing himself with it and tormenting me as I ached to be inside him. At last he guided me into him and sank down gradually until I was enveloped in his tight heat.

"Fuck," I hissed. I was never going to get used to how good he felt. I wrapped my hand around his erection and began to pump it slowly as he slid up and down on mine. I felt like I could last longer with him sitting on me, but I wasn't so deep in him as before. Then suddenly he stopped moving and pushed my hand off him.

"Can we do it the other way? It feels better..."

I grinned up at him and he began to slide off me.

"Woah, stay there," I said.

I wrapped one arm around his waist, my hand on his butt and held him tight against me as I rolled over. Suddenly I was on top, his knees pulled up either side of me, my dick about halfway in him. I thrust forward firmly and his head rolled back.

"Oh, God..._yes!"_ he groaned.

I began to fuck him, hard, pounding myself into him, pinning him to the mattress beneath me and he moved with me, holding onto me tight, groaning and swearing until we came together in just moments. I stopped moving and stayed in him, panting for breath and staring into his eyes as he looked up at me.

"I love you," I gasped. "So much."

"I love you too."

I pulled myself away from him reluctantly a minute later and once again we showered together. Then we made coffee and toast and I glanced at the clock repeatedly, wishing it would stop working its way around past nine and on towards noon. I didn't want him to leave; I didn't know how I would stand it.

We spent the rest of the morning just lounging about cuddling and talking and listening to music until we heard Sam's truck outside and Jacob jumped up nervously.

"I should probably go," he said.

"You don't have to. They don't mind you being here."

"Yeah, but they know I stayed, it's kind of...I don't know..." He went red.

I grinned. "Don't worry about it, really."

The door opened a second later and Sam came in.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey," I said. "How was the show?"

"So so." Sam wiggled his hand to indicate he hadn't been that impressed. "Em liked it, which was the point of going."

Emily walked in now. "He didn't like it, did he?" she said, punching Sam in the arm. "He told me he was enjoying himself. Big liar." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

The pair of them were so wrapped in each other that Jacob relaxed and sat down again, apparently no longer uncomfortable. Emily made everyone some lunch and later, Jacob and I went back to his place and worked on the bike for the afternoon, then spent the evening keeping Billy company for a while before we went back to the workshop and fooled around with hands and mouths. I resolved to get another bottle of lube to keep there for the future.

There had been no pack meeting that day, but Sam had talked to Jared on the phone about Embry and decided it would be a good idea to bring him over to the house the next weekend and talk to him. It was clear he was going to be next. I almost told Sam I thought Jacob was right on his heels, but I still wasn't sure whether he looked any different or if I imagined it. I decided I would just keep a close eye on him; I saw more of him than anyone else after all.

Throughout the week at school, Jared and I both watched Embry. He complained he was hot several times and lost his temper once, when he caught me looking at him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Paul? You've been gawking at me all day!" he barked.

"No, I haven't," I said mildly.

"Yeah, you have. What is it? Jacob not enough for you, you want me as well?"

"Calm down, Embry, I'm not after your ass," I said.

Jacob glanced from him to me and back again, frowning. Embry glared at Jacob now.

"Don't worry, you're not going to have to share, I'm _straight!"_ he sneered.

"Embry, cool it," Jared put in. "I was looking at you too; you just look like maybe you're coming down with something, that's all."

"Maybe I am, I'm fucking burning up," Embry grumbled. "Just stay out of my way, all of you." He turned and walked off.

"What the hell was all that?" Quil said.

"I don't know, he's been weird all week," Jacob sighed.

Jared and I looked at each other and I pulled my phone out to send Sam a text message. It was Thursday. Sam sent a message back telling me he would ask Jared to bring Embry to the house first thing on Saturday morning - we would talk to him then. Jared received a text a moment later.

"Shit," I muttered when I had read mine.

"What?" Jacob looked at me.

"Sam needs me for some stuff on Saturday."

"Paul, I'm sure you can tear yourselves away from each other for a few hours," Jared said. "You two are like a pair of lovesick puppies."

"Fuck off!" I growled.

Embry's temper had rubbed off on me and now being told I couldn't be with Jacob every minute on Saturday only made matters worse. I wanted to punch something. I walked away from them all, breathing deep and trying to make myself calm down. I was blowing things way out of proportion.

"Paul, are you ok?" Jacob had followed me.

"Stay away from me!" I snapped.

His eyes widened and filled with hurt.

"Sorry." He backed away, then turned and went off on his own, avoiding the others.

"Oh, shit, I groaned. "You fucking jerk, Paul!"

I could feel his pain; it was almost as if someone had rammed a knife into my chest. I hurt Jacob and I couldn't stand it. My anger immediately subsided and was replaced by misery. I ran after him.

"Jacob! Jake, wait!"

I caught him up and grabbed his arm. He stopped and turned to look at me. He looked as miserable as I felt.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Did I do something wrong?" He bit his lip. "You don't really like Embry, do you?"

"God, no," I grimaced. "You didn't do anything. I'm an asshole. You said yourself Embry's being weird, that's why I was looking at him. I'm just pissed because of Sam having one of his damned family 'things' on Saturday when I want to be with you. I'm sorry." I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. For a moment he didn't move, but then he hugged me back. "I love you," I whispered in his ear. "Nothing's going to change that."

I drew back a few inches and kissed him. Curious - I didn't lower my head to kiss him, I just kissed him and his lips were right in front of mine. He was taller.

"Guys, break it up, Jesus," Quil said suddenly. I looked up and found Quil and Jared both standing a few feet away. Jacob laughed and I let go of him reluctantly.

The rest of the day dragged. I called Sam on the way home and then went straight to Jacob's house for a few hours. I still felt like a shit for snapping at him even though he seemed to have forgotten about it and I didn't want to leave him until I absolutely had to. I stayed until nine forty-five and then ran home.

Embry didn't go to school on Friday. He called Quil to say he was sick. Jared and I exchanged glances when Quil told us and I immediately wondered how long Embry had before he actually phased. It didn't seem like long. Sam's get together on Saturday was probably going to be a good thing after all.

I stayed out late with Jacob again on Friday night, knowing I wouldn't see him on Saturday certainly until the afternoon. Jared brought a sour-tempered Embry over around nine o'clock. He had apparently argued all the way that he didn't see why after all this time his half brother had some desire to get to know him and would rather have spent the day in bed sulking. He was still complaining of a fever and was wearing only jeans and a t-shirt like the rest of us. We took him outside and walked across the meadow towards the woods as Sam talked to him, Jared and me following a few yards behind. He seemed so wound up we didn't want to risk him phasing in the house.

Surprisingly, he took the news that he would shortly become a wolf pretty well. He knew the legends of course - everyone did on the reservation - but he had thought they were only that. The discovery that his sudden growth, temperature and unexplainable rages were all a symptom of that relieved him immensely.

None of us phased, although later I struggled not to. Sam took us all back to the house to hang out and talk some more and I constantly fidgeted and looked at the clock, aching to be with Jacob. I grabbed my phone to text him, but I was out of credit.

"Cool down, Paul," Sam said once.

I did my best, but by the time Jared and Embry left I was wound up like a coiled spring. I sprinted out of the house and galloped off to Jacob's house, passing the other two walking. I guessed Jacob would be working on the bike, but when I got there the workshop was closed. I ran to the house and knocked on the door. Billy opened it a couple of minutes later.

"Hey, Billy. Is Jacob here?" I asked.

"No, he went over to Quil's a while ago."

"Oh." My heart plummeted.

"I guess you can catch up with them there," Billy said.

"Where does he live?" I asked.

"Do you know where Embry lives?"

"Yes.

"Quil's house is the opposite end of the street on the other side," Billy said. "Large two storey building with a red door."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll go over there." I said goodbye to Billy and trotted away again, cursing my stupid phone for having no credit.

Ten minutes later, Quil's mother advised me that he and Jacob had gone out, but she didn't know where. I was completely gutted. It was ridiculous, because I knew I'd see him soon enough, even if I had to go and sit on his doorstep and wait for him to get home, but I felt as if a huge hole had been punched through me. It hurt like hell and made me feel sick. I walked away from Quil's and then began to run home, feeling my heart pounding and my blood rushing in my ears. My temper rose and I veered off the road towards the woods, running faster and faster. It was dusk and no one would see me. I let myself go, phasing as I ran, my clothes exploding off me into little pieces.

I bounded on, snarling and snapping at nothing as I went. I ran and ran, my heart aching, until I finally slowed at the foot of the Rockies when my paws landed on snow. Then the realisation that I was probably a couple of hundred miles away from Jacob filled me with a fresh wave of anxiety. I almost let out a howl of anguish, but managed to change it to a growl before it emerged and brought Sam and Jared racing to me. I had worked myself up into such a state that I wasn't even fit to see Jacob and I decided the only thing I could do was ignore the pain and make my way back to La Push slowly to give myself time to calm down.

I loped along, forcing myself not to break into a gallop until some hours later I passed Forks and then the outline of La Push appeared out of the darkness. Judging from the position of the moon, it was probably after midnight and Sam was going to be mad as hell. Great.

The house lights were off and I thought for a moment I might have got away with it. I sat on the porch for a few minutes until I was calm enough to phase back, then slipped inside. Not a sound - Sam and Emily must be in bed. I tiptoed to the kitchen to get some water and grabbed a towel to wrap around my waist, just in case Emily happened to get up and see me.

"Where have you been?"

Sam's rumbling voice came from behind me and I almost dropped the glass I was holding before I turned around. He closed the door quietly and leaned against it.

"I...uh...I thought you'd gone to bed," I said.

"I was in the lounge waiting for you."

"Sorry. I was upset. I phased and I couldn't change back," I said.

"Upset about what?"

"Nothing much."

"Paul, you have to keep better control of yourself," Sam said. "You can't phase over the slightest little thing; you're going to end up doing it at school or something."

"Sorry," I said again. "I'll be fine."

Sam sighed heavily and stared at me for another moment. Then he opened the door again.

"Go to bed," he said and went off to his room.

I went to bed, but I didn't sleep. I tossed and turned, longing for Jacob and wondering if I dared get up again and use the landline telephone to call him. Then Sam and Billy would both be mad with me. I tossed and turned some more and just waited until it was time to get up.

I should have been exhausted, but by the time I got out of bed I was pumped with energy. I showered quickly, ran over to the gas station to get credit for my cellphone and then went to Jacob's. Although it was barely eight o'clock, he was already in the workshop, fitting a fuel tank to the bike.

"Hey," he said, looking up briefly. He didn't stop what he was doing.

"I missed you yesterday," I said.

"I thought you were busy."

"Yeah, I got away as soon as I could and came over here, but your Dad said you were out with Quil. I would have called, but I was out of credit."

"Me and Quil went down to the beach," Jacob said. "We stopped by Embry's house to get him, but his Mom said he was at your place."

"Yeah, Sam wanted to spend some time with him," I said.

"And Jared too?"

"He turned up with Embry," I said quickly. I hated this. He knew something was going on and I just wanted to blurt it all out rather than keep on bullshitting him.

"Ok." He looked away from me and carried on with what he was doing. "Don't you have to be at home on Sundays?"

"Not today."

"Well, I really want to get this finished," Jacob said. "I guess you can help though, if you want."

"Of course I'll help."

I was filled with anxiety and nerves. I couldn't blame him one bit for being cool towards me, but the pain inside me wasn't diminishing just from being in his company. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and kiss him and tell him I loved him, but I just knew I wasn't going to get a favourable reaction at that moment. I did the best I could to swallow my feelings and helped him work on the bike.

Hours passed and we barely spoke, but gradually the atmosphere seemed to warm up. When Jacob went to fetch some sandwiches from the house and we sat on the couch to eat them, he even smiled at me. I grasped his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry," he said. He put his plate down and turned towards me. "I'm not being very friendly."

"I can understand that."

"Yeah, but it's only making me miserable."

He leaned against me and pressed his face into my neck. I slid my arms around him at once and hugged him tight.

"It killed me yesterday, not being with you," I said. "I love you. It hurts like hell when I can't see you."

"Me too," Jacob whispered. "I guess I just felt left out."

I hugged him tighter and then drew back a few inches to kiss him. Nothing was going to keep me from him again, I told myself. Not even Sam.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I spent the rest of the day with Jacob, only dragging myself away at the last possible minute so that I arrived home exactly at ten o'clock.

We had finished the bike except for adding a few accessories and filling it up with gas and oil and we ate microwaved dinners with Billy before returning to the workshop for the evening. Strangely, as desperate as I had been to get my hands on him since the previous Sunday, all I wanted to do was hold him. We lay on the couch together, cuddling and kissing for hours until I had to leave.

I hadn't slept in two days and the minute my head hit the pillow I was dead to the world, only waking again when Sam knocked on my door and shouted that I would be late for school if I didn't move my ass. I got up in a foul mood and raced into the shower, pulled my school clothes on and flew out of the door without even picking up my rucksack.

The day from hell began the minute I arrived at school, mostly down to my temper although I found I was blaming that on Embry. He hadn't even done anything wrong. He couldn't help his genes or the fact that he was about to phase, but nevertheless, he had been the cause of part of my weekend being screwed up.

With no bag and no books, obviously I had no homework to hand in either, not that I had done it what with everything else that had happened. My English teacher immediately assigned me an hour's detention after school and then because I swore under my breath and he heard me, he added an hour for Tuesday too. I sulked and simmered for the rest of the class and barely spoke to the other guys in the short break after.

History was no better. The teacher, Mr Richards, was even less impressed by my lack of homework than the English teacher had been and advised me I would be in detention after school.

"I already got detention after school," I grunted, my sulky mood turning to temper again.

"Then you'll have detention tomorrow too."

"Try Wednesday!" I snapped.

"Paul..." Jacob said softly, nudging my arm with his elbow.

"Mr Lahote, try to remember your manners as well as your homework in the future! You'll have detention for the rest of the week in the meantime."

"Fuck," I muttered.

"Sshh," Jacob hissed.

Behind us, Embry snorted with laughter.

"Outside, now!" Mr Richards ordered.

"Who? Me or him?" I retorted, jerking my thumb over my shoulder at Embry. I couldn't seem to control myself.

"Paul, get out. Wait for me outside the Head's office."

Embry sniggered. Much as I was tempted to turn around and hit him, I got up and stalked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind me. I knew I could have reined it in if I tried hard enough, but everything seemed to be getting to me. It wasn't just Embry; it was the whole situation with Jacob. It killed me that I couldn't tell him what was going on and I guessed it would only be a matter of time before he got more suspicious about what I got up to with Sam, Jared and now Embry.

I didn't go to the Head's office. I stormed off onto the football field which wasn't currently being used and trudged up and down until the lunch break started. Then I made my way back towards the buildings to look for Jacob. He was with the others and when they saw me, they headed towards me.

"You're in heaps of trouble, Mr Richards went looking for you," Embry said.

"I don't care."

"You're nuts, it's like you _want_ detention or something," he went on.

"Shut up, Embry."

"No one wants detention," Quil put in.

"Paul, calm down," Jared said under his breath.

"I am calm!"

"Yeah, don't lose it here, for God's sake," Embry said.

I couldn't believe it. Sam had practically gagged me and here was Embry, dropping hints the size of Texas to everyone. At least that was what it seemed like to me. I threw my fist out before I could think about the consequences and hit him in the jaw. He staggered slightly, but that was all. Then he launched himself at me.

"Stop it! Christ!" Jared shoved himself between the two of us and forced us apart. "Cool it. Both of you."

I backed off and Jacob stepped closer to me.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm behaving like a dick, I know." I put my hand on his neck and squeezed gently.

"Can't be hard, you are a dick!" Embry spat at me from the other side of Jared.

"Enough!" growled Jared.

I glanced at Embry, who appeared to be sneering and I knew I had to get away before I lost control. I just couldn't get myself together and it was all over virtually nothing. I turned and came face to face with Mr Richards, which was the last straw.

"Paul Lahote! I told you to wait for me outside the Head's office!" he exclaimed, grabbing me roughly by the back of my jacket. "Let's go."

"Take your hand off me."

"Paul, please," Jacob said.

My chest was filling with heat and my legs started to feel as if they didn't belong to me. I shrugged the jacket off, leaving it in the teacher's hands and fled. I wasn't going to get very far and I burst into the sports block which was always empty at lunch times. I just made it into the toilets before I phased and then I prowled up and down, growling, my claws clicking on the tiled floor. A moment later I heard Jared's voice outside.

"Paul, Jesus, you have to get it together. Back up, I'm coming in."

I went to the far end of the small room and sat down in front of the third cubicle. The door opened a moment later and Jared came in, closing the door behind him and leaning on it.

"I can't even imagine what's going on with you," he said. "You know, you can talk to me, or Sam, maybe we can help. If you want to call me later...I don't know." He shrugged. "Look, you have to calm down and change back. I managed to get the others to go on and wait in the food hall, but I don't think Jacob's going to stay there long, he's pretty upset."

I stood up and snarled.

"I'm going to find you something to wear," Jared went on. "Then you'll have to go home, otherwise Richards is going to come after you."

I nodded slowly, mentally kicking myself. Now I was going to have to leave school without even seeing Jacob. Jared said he was upset and I sank bank onto the floor miserably. All of it was my own stupid fault.

I phased back quickly and then retreated into one of the toilet cubicles in case anyone came in. I closed the door, put the seat down and crouched on it with my feet up. The outer door opened again a couple of minutes later, footsteps entered and then paused.

"Paul?"

"Yeah." I opened the door.

"Here. It's the best I could find." He threw me a football shirt, shorts and sneakers.

"Thanks." I began to dress quickly. "I'm sorry. I just lost it."

"I know, that was clear." Jared leaned back against the door again. "What's going on with you?"

"It's Jacob," I said.

"You two having problems?" he asked.

"Yeah. No, not like that. I just hate lying to him. It's killing me. He knows something's going on that he's left out of."

"It's not going to be for much longer, Paul, he shot up about two inches in the last couple of weeks and his muscles are growing. I thought you would have noticed; I'm sure you look at him more closely than I do."

I snorted, despite my distress. "Yeah, I just wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking." I groaned then. "Is he really upset?"

"He's just worried about the trouble you're going to be in when Richards catches up with you."

"Shit!" I said, suddenly remembering I'd left my jacket in the teacher's hands. "My cellphone was in my jacket; Richards has it."

"Here." Jared passed me his own cellphone. "I'll get it back for you later. If you want me, send a text to your own number."

"I don't know my own fucking number," I grumbled.

"It's in my phone," Jared sighed. "So is Jacob's just in case you're wondering."

"Ok. Sorry. Thanks," I muttered. I couldn't seem to get my head organised.

"Do you need bus fare?" Jared asked then.

"I guess..."

He dug a dollar out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"Ok, let's get out of here before you're caught."

He opened the door, peered out and established no one was around, then beckoned to me. Once we got outside the building we spotted Mr Richards and the Head immediately, marching purposefully across from the main school building.

"Go."

Jared gave me a shove and I sprinted off at once towards the gates. I reached the bus stop without incident and luckily a bus was just pulling up. I bought a ticket to La Push and went to sit at the back where I fiddled with Jared's cellphone, wondering what I could possibly say to Jacob in a text that would be sufficient to explain my behaviour. I couldn't think of a thing and decided all I could do was wait until he got home from school and talk to him in person.

Instead, I tapped out a message to Jared. 'Thanks for helping me. Sorry for everything. Paul.' Then I spent several minutes searching through his list of contacts for his own name before I realised I was supposed to be sending it to myself.

I groaned aloud and then grimaced as a couple of people on the bus turned to look at me. I just hoped Jared had managed to get my phone back from Mr Richards. Obviously he had. His phone vibrated in my hand and a message popped up.

'No problem. Got your phone. Speak later. J.'

I relaxed marginally, but it didn't make me feel any better about Jacob. In addition, I still had to explain myself to Sam. I got off the bus an hour later and walked slowly home, dreading getting there. However, when I arrived the truck was missing and only Emily was in the house.

"Paul! What are you doing back?" she exclaimed. She was in the process of making some kind of meal, presumably for dinner that evening. I sat down at the kitchen table.

"I'm in so much trouble," I moaned.

"I don't suppose your teachers were too pleased that you forgot your homework," she said. "You left your bag," she added when I looked at her in surprise.

"Oh...yeah. That was the start of it." I went on to tell her about the detentions from the English and history teachers, my fight with Embry and my phasing in the sports block toilets.

"Oh, dear," Emily put in once or twice as she listened. Then when I finished: "What brought all this on?"

Before I had time to respond, Sam came in and I had to start again from the beginning. He was less than pleased by the day's events and finished by saying it would be best if I didn't go back to school. He would go in person and speak to the Head himself, saying that he would see to it that I studied at home and took my exams in the summer.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I have to go to school!"

"Oh, you _like_ school?" Sam smiled at last.

"It's ok. At least I get to see..." I stopped with a groan.

"...Jacob all day," he added. "Look, from what you've said I doubt they're going to want you back. Swearing in class, fighting, running away from your teacher and leaving in the middle of the day. Anyway, you already proved you're not safe to be there any more. What started all this?"

"I just felt crap to begin with," I said. "It's all my own fault. I couldn't control myself."

"Well, you're going to have to learn to. Jared can handle it, but what if you lose it with Jacob? Have you thought about that?" He glanced at Emily, a look of guilt and misery crossing his face.

"It won't happen," I said. "I won't let it. Anyway, he'll join the pack soon. He's changing. Jared noticed too. He's taller, his muscles are growing; just in the last week or so."

Sam nodded thoughtfully. "Let's deal with one thing at a time. Bring him over here at the weekend. First, school. I'll go now." He went out and a moment later the truck disappeared up the street.

I pulled out Jared's phone and sent him a message to say Sam was on his way in to speak to the Head and take me out of school.

'Lucky s.o.b. Wish Sam was fostering me, might be tempted to do same to get out of it.'

I didn't feel lucky. I felt like everything was going wrong and it was all my own doing. I went to my room and stayed there until Sam returned. He reported that he had spoken to the Head and told him I was having some personal problems, resulting from my violent father's influence and that he thought it best I be schooled at home in the future. The Head, who had been planning to suspend me, was only relieved and took Sam to my locker to collect my belongings.

"I saw Jared for a minute too; he's coming over after school to bring your phone back," he added.

I nodded. "Thanks, Sam. I'm sorry for all this."

He grinned. "You won't thank me in a minute. I'll be arranging for a tutor to come here every weekday morning to make sure you pass your exams in May. You _will_ do the work, whatever problems you're having. And you'll work for me in the afternoons. I was going to take on a part-time worker anyway. I'll deduct the cost of the tutor out of your wages."

"Ok," I said meekly. I wasn't going to argue with him about anything at that moment - unless he tried to keep me away from Jacob. He was still standing by me, even after all the trouble I was making for him. I figured I would probably like working with him. He made furniture - fancy tables and cabinets and all manner of things, large and small. I imagined doing something like that would be pretty satisfying, making something out of nothing; kind of like Jacob fixing dead bikes and cars. I always knew learning about World War II wouldn't do me any good.

"You're going to pay me?" I added in surprise, having only just registered his last sentence.

"Don't get too excited, it won't come to much after the tutor takes his chunk out of it."

"I'll work hard, I promise," I said. I intended to pass the exams, if only to please him.

I went to take a shower and put on some of my own clothes, glancing at the clock every few minutes as I waited for school to finish. I knew I should have sent Jacob a text at least, but I just couldn't think of anything to say. I would race over to see him as soon as he was home.

I finally got ready to go out fifteen minutes after I knew the bus would have arrived in La Push, but just as I was shoving my feet into my boots, Jared knocked on the door. I opened it and discovered Embry was with him.

"Hey," Jared said.

Sam appeared immediately and stood next to me as if he expected me to act up again. I guess I couldn't blame him.

"Here's your phone." Jared handed it to me and I gave him his own back.

"Thanks."

"Come on in, don't stand out there," Sam said, moving back out of the way. Jared walked in quickly and Embry followed, eyeing me somewhat warily.

"Embry, I'm sorry," I said at once. "I was a jerk. I shouldn't have hit you."

"Well, I guess I was partly to blame," he said. "I knew you were pissed; I didn't have to go on messing with you."

"Do you two want to stay for dinner?" Emily offered then. "Fried chicken?"

"Yes, please!" Jared exclaimed at once. "I'll call my Mom and let her know I won't be back." He pulled his cellphone out again.

"Embry?" Sam prompted.

"Sure, if you don't mind."

He called his Mom too and I hesitated at the door, thinking it would be rude for me to take off and miss dinner when they were staying.

"Go," Emily said softly. "It's fine."

"Thanks."

I nodded at Jared and Embry and set off to see Jacob. For once, desperate as I was to see him, I walked rather than ran. My stomach churned and my heart skipped unevenly in my chest. What must he be thinking of me? Losing it in class, taunting the teachers, punching Embry and then running away without even speaking to him.

The workshop door was closed when I got there, but light was filtering out beneath it and through the couple of small windows high in the end wall. I halted a few feet away as I heard a loud crash from inside. Another noise which sounded like some kind of metal object colliding with something else and then bouncing.

"Oh, shit," I muttered.

I grasped the door handle - it was a latch type and I pulled the lever down and opened the door. It swung outwards and I took a step through it, then dodged back quickly and ducked as something which looked like it was part of a car came hurtling through the air towards me. It smashed into the wall inches from me, leaving a dent the size of my head and fell to the ground. It looked as if it probably weighed a couple of hundred pounds. Horrified, I straightened up again and stared at Jacob. He was wearing jeans and a grey sweatshirt with the sleeves torn out, his shoulders and arms bulging with muscles. How long was it since I slept with him? A week, or just over. How had that happened so fast? How did I not notice more over the past few days when I'd hugged him? Too wrapped up in my own shit. I stood still, waiting for him to look up and see me.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry!" Jacob's eyes widened and his hands flew to his mouth as he realised the chunk of car he had just thrown across the workshop had missed me by inches.

I stepped inside and closed the door after me. As I walked towards him I noticed the partially dried streaks of tears on his cheeks and pain stabbed through my chest. He lowered his hands and avoided looking at me.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I was going to ask you the same question."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at the ground. The muscles in his arms bulged. He spoke again before I had chance to begin answering.

"If you're pissed at me over anything, you can just tell me. Or maybe you don't want to be with me any more; I don't know. One minute you say you love me and the next you bite my head off or barely even speak to me. Now I hear you left school..."

He looked so hurt and miserable, it crushed me. He had been crying, throwing things around the workshop because of me and I hated myself.

"Jacob, listen to me." I doubted he would want me to touch him right then, but I had to. I put my hands on his upper arms, which were solid. "I love you, I love being with you. You're my life. Nothing's ever going to make me leave you," I gushed.

"You can't know that," he said sadly, still not looking at me. A fresh tear escaped and he brushed it away quickly.

"I do know. Come here, sit down." I led him over to the couch and dropped onto it. After a moment he sat beside me, head hanging. He raised a hand to tuck his hair behind his ear and I grasped his hand, lacing my fingers with his. I took a deep breath. The hell with Sam's rule. I couldn't stand this another minute.

"There's a reason for Jared and Embry hanging around, for my erratic moods and stuff. I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

"Not even me?"

"No. But I will. I'm making you miserable and I can't stand it. It won't be long before Sam tells you what's going on anyway."

Jacob raised his head at last and met my eyes. He looked surprised and confused.

"I'm guessing you know the stories about where we descended from," I began. "The Quileutes, I mean."

"Yes. Wolves, right? What does that have to do with anything?" His look of puzzlement only increased.

"How much do you know about it?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"A fair bit, I guess. My Dad told me a lot of stuff. I always wondered if it was really only a legend. Dad has this book about the shape-shifters and it's not like a fairytale, it's like a history book. There's something about Ephraim Black in it. He's my great-grandfather."

"It's not just a legend," I said, relieved that he already knew most of it. I didn't feel like I was giving quite so much away.

Jacob's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. He didn't speak for a long moment.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" he whispered.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"Because the minute you said it's not just a legend, all these things came into my mind. Your wild temper, how you're hot all the time even when it's freezing, you jumped out the library window like it was two feet off the ground..." He paused and his face took on a look of sudden shock. "Right after I got beat up, you said you talked to Bobbie and then it was on the news that he was attacked by a wild animal - a wolf. Did you do that?"

"Yeah. I'm not proud of it, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to kill him for what he did to you. I didn't intend to actually hurt him, I just meant to scare him. I clawed his arm by accident."

Jacob stared at me for a moment and then much to my surprise he grinned suddenly. "I'd love to have seen his face."

I smiled briefly.

"So when did it first happen?" he asked.

"The night before you got hurt. I had a nightmare, woke up yelling your name and my Dad came in and hit me. I lost it, phased right there in my room. Then I dived out the window and ran to Sam's. I haven't seen my Dad since then. Sam kept me off school the next day, it was that Friday when you got detention. I was expecting that I would change pretty soon. After I jumped out the library window, do you remember Jared grabbing me and taking me away?"

"Yeah, you didn't come back to school. You said later you needed to go off and calm down."

"Yeah, well Jared took me to see Sam that afternoon. He was worried I'd get in another fight and phase at school. Jacob, you won't let on I told you about this, will you? Sam'll go mad. He's Alpha. He told me to keep my mouth shut. I hate breaking his trust, but I hated keeping the secret from you more."

Jacob shook his head. "I promise. So, who else is there? Jared and Embry?"

"Embry hasn't actually phased yet, but he will do soon."

"That makes sense. All of a sudden the four of you are hanging out together at Sam's. Sam and Embry never really had anything to do with each other before." He paused for a moment. "So what happened today?"

"I was pissed because I couldn't see you Saturday and everything went wrong from there. I've been mad a lot lately, because I haven't been able to tell you about this. I keep having to make shit up to explain myself. Anyway, this morning I was late up, forgot my stuff, I was mad with Embry. He hasn't even done anything except get close to shifting, but I resented him because I had to be home talking to him instead of with you. I completely lost it today. There was a wolf in the sports block for about ten minutes." I grinned sheepishly. "Jared told me go home and then when I told Sam what happened, he decided to keep me out of school in the future. He talked to the Head and I was going to be suspended anyway after what I did today."

"Wow," Jacob said. He stared at me in silence for a moment, then smiled a little. "That's kind of a relief. When you've been with me, mostly it's no different, but sometimes it's like you'd rather be somewhere else. I started wondering if maybe you regretted us being together; sleeping together."

"God, no," I groaned. "I love being with you. You know I said nothing will make me leave you?" I figured I might as well tell him the rest. Leave the details about the pack to Sam, but this part was way more important.

"Yeah," Jacob said.

"Do you know what Imprinting is?" I asked.

"Yes, I read about it. It's about finding your soul mate. I thought it weird though that you can't choose; that it's like fate or something."

"Yeah, but fate was obviously on my side. I Imprinted on you," I said. "After you got beaten up and I took you to Sam's, do you remember asking me what happened?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean what happened to me, it was because of the way you were looking at me. It was like you froze and just zoned out somewhere, but your eyes were looking into mine... actually it seemed like you were looking right into me."

I grinned. "I knew what you meant when you asked what happened. Telling you that you passed out was the best thing I could come up with. So when I say I'll never leave you, it's the truth. You're my world. Only thing that's going to change that is one of us dying. Or you telling me to fuck off, which I would have to do if you wanted it, although it would just about kill me. When I'm not with you, even if it's just a few hours, it's like a physical pain."

"Wow," Jacob repeated. He smiled again and his hand gripped mine tighter. "So I guess I'm dating a wolf, then?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Why is this happening now?" he asked then, his smile disappearing. "I mean, from what I know, Ephraim and his pack were the last of them."

"Look, it's better I leave that stuff for Sam to tell you," I said.

"I thought he didn't want me to know. Wait...is this going to happen to me?"

He looked alarmed suddenly and I hesitated, not sure how to answer.

"I figured if my great-grandfather was one, then maybe..." Jacob prompted.

"You will," I told him. "Soon, I'm guessing. These just appeared out of nowhere." I let go of his hand and touched his arm, squeezing his bicep. "I told Sam there were signs; he wants to see you at the weekend."

"Shit." He just stared at me for a moment, then jumped to his feet, starting to pace around. "I don't want this!" he exclaimed. "I like my life the way it is; I don't want to have to worry about turning into a wolf at school or wherever! I'm happy - or I was happy. When have you ever known me get mad about anything? This is making me crazy; I just almost hit you with a fucking gearbox!"

I got up quickly and went to him.

"Sam says you learn to control it. Obviously I haven't managed it yet, but I will. So will you."

I rested my hands on his waist and drew him towards me. He was breathing fast, his pupils dilated, but he wasn't hot; not at all.

"Can't I do anything to stop it?" he groaned.

"No. It's in your genes; it's not something any of us can change, we just have to live with it."

I slid my arms around him and he leaned against me, turning his face into my neck. I could feel his heart hammering, his warm breath on my skin. His body was tense, his muscles hard, but he gradually began to relax as he held onto me. I brushed my lips against his ear and felt the softness of his hair on my cheek. I loved his hair, but I knew he would have to cut if off when he phased. I reached up and ran my hand through it.

He drew back a little and I loosened my hold on him, thinking he was going to move away from me, but suddenly he was crushing his lips onto mine, his hands gripping me tighter. Surprised and immediately excited, I plunged my tongue into his mouth and slid one hand down to his butt, pressing myself against him.

He groaned into my mouth and began to push me slowly backwards towards the couch, dragging his lips away from mine only to pull his sweatshirt off quickly. I took my t-shirt off and lost my balance as the back of my legs bumped into the couch. I sat down suddenly and a second later Jacob was on me, his knees resting either side of me as he began to kiss me again hungrily. My dick stiffened rapidly and I slid one hand between us to unfasten Jacob's jeans, finding him as aroused and eager as I was.

I tucked both hands under him, pushed myself up slightly and dumped him onto his back on the cushions. Kneeling between his thighs, I unfastened my pants to make things more comfortable, staring down at him as I did so. He looked amazing with well-defined pecs and abs as well as the muscles in his arms; his lips were parted and his eyes half closed.

I couldn't wait to see the rest of him and I lifted his legs up one at a time, took his boots and socks off and then began to pull his jeans and underwear down. His thighs were firm and muscular and his dick rigid, lying against his stomach. I backed off the couch to strip the rest of my own clothes off, then lowered myself onto him, rubbing myself against him. I had never wanted to have sex so much in my life, but I knew we would only be able to fool around for the moment.

Jacob wrapped both arms and one leg around me as I began to kiss him again and thrust his hips upwards beneath me, grinding himself harder against me. I tore my lips away from his with a groan. He took one hand off me and stretched his arm out over the edge of the couch. I didn't notice what he was doing until he pulled something out from beneath it - a bottle of lube.

"Fuck me," he panted. "Now! _Please_..." The last word was a moan of desperation.

I took the lube from him, not bothering to waste my breath asking where he got it. I pulled back from him, lathered some on myself and guided myself into him. I slid in smoothly and he writhed under me, his eyes meeting mine and staying locked onto them as he moved with me.

"Oh, God, Paul," he gasped after only a couple of minutes. "Harder, please. I'm gonna come."

I pulled back and rammed myself forward again vigorously. Two more thrusts and I erupted into him, just as I felt him spurting onto my stomach, both of us grunting and groaning loudly.

"Fuck," I gasped, dropping my head onto the cushion beside his, panting hard. My head was spinning and my dick twitching as Jacob's muscles squeezed the last few drops out of it.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too." I raised my head again and looked down at him. He was beautiful, I thought. I had always thought so, but never more than at that moment with his face flushed, eyes sparkling with a look of almost adoration in them. I brushed my lips against his lightly, still too breathless to deepen it. I drew back then and slid off him, resting on my side. He turned towards me and we just lay there holding each other.

"Where did you get that lube from?" I murmured then, remembering it's unexpected and timely appearance.

Jacob chuckled. "I ordered it on the internet. It turned up a couple of days ago."

"You ordered it online? Don't you need a credit card for that?"

"I used my Dad's," he sniggered.

"Jesus, what's he going to say when he gets the statement and it's got some sex shop name on it?" I groaned.

"I'll intercept it, give him the money to pay for it and tell him I ordered him a gift. It's his birthday next week."

"Don't forget to actually buy him one, then." I slid away from him reluctantly and sat up. "I wish I could stay here all night, but I ought to go home and show my face," I sighed. "Emily was about to serve up dinner when I left. She said it was ok, but I don't want to piss them off after today."

"Ok," Jacob said.

"Why don't you come with me?" I added.

"Won't they want to talk to you alone?"

"They already did that. Jared and Embry turned up right before I left."

"Won't that be kind of awkward, though?"

"No. Jared and Embry won't be hanging around too long anyway, if they're even still there now."

"Sure, ok," Jacob said. He sat up and grabbed his shorts. "Can you give me ten minutes to dive in the shower? I probably smell of sex."

I grinned. "No more than me. Go on, I'll wait here."

He dragged the rest of his clothes on and went over to the house. I got dressed and wandered around the workshop, looking at the finished bike and the old Volkswagen Rabbit in the corner - the very car the gearbox had been removed from. I went to rescue the gearbox from where it lay by the door and was surprised at the weight of it. I dumped it with the heap of other parts beside the car. Minutes later Jacob was back, wearing cargo pants and his fleece jacket over a t-shirt, his hair wet.

"My Dad said the same as Sam - home by ten or call," he said. "Let's go."

He closed the workshop up and we walked over to Sam's. Much to my relief, Jared and Embry had already gone and there was still plenty of chicken left, although it was cold now. We ate some and spent half an hour in the lounge room talking to Sam and Emily. I noticed Sam's eyes on Jacob a number of times, obviously taking in his muscles which were completely unhidden by the tight and sleeveless t-shirt.

We went to my room after a while to watch a movie and the time flew by much too fast. Suddenly Sam was knocking on the door.

"Paul!"

I let go of Jacob who was lying in my arms and sat up, leaning against the wall. He did the same.

"Yeah, come in," I said.

Sam stuck his head around the door. "It's ten o'clock. Won't your Dad be wondering where you are, Jacob?"

"Oh, shit," Jacob muttered.

Sam stared at him for another moment, a slight frown on his face. Then he just grinned.

"Look, stay if you want. But call Billy, I don't want him coming after me tomorrow."

Jacob reddened and grinned.

"Thanks, Sam," I said.

He retreated from the room. Jacob pulled out his cellphone quickly and called his Dad and I went to take a quick shower. By ten-thirty, we were in my bed and I eventually fell asleep resting against Jacob's back, my arms wrapped around him the same way I had when he stayed over that other time. Finally things seemed to be going right for me again.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jacob left early in the morning and went home to get his school stuff and catch the bus. We spent several minutes kissing outside the door before he dragged himself away and when I stepped back into the house, Sam was rolling his eyes and grinning.

"If only you could see yourselves," he teased.

"Shut up," I grunted, laughing none the less.

I spent all of that day working with Sam. He had arranged for a tutor to start coming to the house for three hours each week day, starting the following Monday and in the meantime told me he would show me the ropes of his business and teach me to make some basic things, but in my spare time I would have to catch up on all the homework I hadn't done for school. I did as I was told and even determinedly wrote a fifteen hundred word history essay, much as I loathed it.

That week I think Sam could probably have asked me to do just about anything and I would have done it. I felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off my shoulders now that I was no longer hiding anything from Jacob. I spent every evening with him at Billy's house or in the workshop except for Friday when he came to ours. Then after he left to go home, Sam told me to bring him over on Saturday morning. Jared and Embry had also been invited and Sam intended to tell Jacob about the pack.

I arrived at Billy's house at eight on Saturday, unable to wait a minute longer. Sam didn't expect me back until ten, so we went to the workshop and filled in the time by tearing off each other's clothes and fucking vigorously on the couch, just as we had every night that week apart from Friday. I couldn't get enough of him and he was just as eager.

Jacob had already taken a shower that morning, but he went back into the house for a quick clean up while I stayed outside and rinsed myself in the rain barrel. It was ice cold and deliciously refreshing on my hot sweaty skin. We set off for Sam's at nine-thirty, holding hands as we usually did when we walked around La Push. Most people we knew on the reservation seemed to have got used to seeing us and didn't turn a hair.

As we walked along the main road in the direction of Sam's, suddenly a truck pulled up close by and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I gripped Jacob's hand tighter and stopped walking.

"It's my Dad," I told him.

I don't know why I still felt nervous. I was as big as him now, probably bigger and certainly a lot stronger, but still he managed to intimidate me. He jumped out of the truck and stood a few feet in front of me.

"Paul."

"Hello, Dad," I said through my teeth.

"I want to talk to you."

"Go on."

"On your own." He shot a look of contempt at Jacob.

"Anything you have to say, you can say in front of Jacob," I said, clenching my fists and then forcing my right hand to relax as I felt Jacob flinch and realised I was crushing his fingers.

Dad glowered for a moment and I wondered if he remembered Jacob's name from me yelling it in my sleep. After a moment he seemed to force himself to adopt a slightly more pleasant expression.

"I wanted to let you know I'm leaving," he said. "I'm going back to Tacoma."

"When?" I asked.

"Today. There's really nothing for me here. I thought things might have been different."

"So did I," I said. "You can't force someone to change by beating them into it."

"Yeah, well I realise that. I'm not proud of the way I've treated you, Paul. I always wondered if you would have been better off with your mother, but I guess I didn't want to lose my kid. In the end I did anyway. You obviously settled in here a lot better than I did."

"Yeah," I said.

"Look, I'm going back to the old house. If you ever want anything, you can give me a call; it'll be the same number."

"Thanks." I was surprised that he offered and more surprised still that he had nothing to say about me walking around in broad daylight holding hands with a guy.

"I'll be off then. Take care of yourself." He got back in the truck and a moment later he was gone.

I thought I would have been glad to see the back of him and in a way I was, but I was also filled with sorrow that we'd had such a lousy relationship for most of my life. It seemed like a terrible waste when I compared it to the way Jacob and Billy were with each other. I could barely remember anything good happening; only Dad drinking and hitting Mom and then me after she left. Rage boiled up inside me suddenly and I let go of Jacob's hand quickly.

"Keep away from me," I said, backing off.

"But..." He took a step towards me.

"Don't! Stay where you are!"

Damnit, I was losing it. Now would be a good time to learn some control. I was standing in the street opposite a row of houses with Jacob right beside me. I moved further away from him and forced myself not to think about my Dad and everything he had done to me. Instead I looked at Jacob, standing there with a worried expression on his face and I thought about how much I loved him, how happy I was when I was with him.

Gradually the heat in me began to subside. I breathed deep and leaned back against the fence bordering the road. After another minute or two it was clear I wasn't going to phase and I relaxed. I was improving after all.

"Are you ok?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah."

He came towards me and I slid my arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"You're upset about your Dad leaving?"

"No, I'm upset that we never got on and that he'll never really accept me. It just seems like a waste."

"I thought you were going to...you know...phase."

"Yeah, so did I. Apparently I have better control than I thought." I pushed myself away from the fence, keeping one arm around Jacob's neck as we continued in the direction of Sam's.

Jared and Embry were already there when we arrived, sitting at the picnic table behind the house drinking coffee with Sam. We joined them and Emily brought two more hot drinks out for us while everybody made small talk, Embry commenting that he was jealous as hell that I didn't have to go to school any more.

"I'm not just sat on my ass. I'm still taking my exams and I'll probably do better than you; I'm getting a private tutor. Plus I'm working with Sam part time and earning money," I gloated.

"Oh, what? You get in trouble at school and end up being rewarded? I can just imagine what would happen if that was me. My Mom would ground me until I'm thirty if she didn't kill me first," Embry grumbled.

We taunted each other a while longer until Sam interrupted and everyone fell silent. He started by talking about our ancestors and then went on to speak directly to Jacob, telling him about the rest of us. He said the same thing he had to me, which was that he'd read his Dad's book about the shape-shifters and always wondered if it was true.

When Sam went on to tell him about us and that he would shortly be joining us, he looked shocked and dismayed and asked a number of questions about phasing. Everyone listened while Sam talked and then explained that the new pack would be needed in the not too distant future with the expected arrival of vampires in Washington.

"Jacob, there's something else," Sam said then. The rest of us looked at him expectantly. I guessed what he was going to say before he continued.

"Your great-grandfather was Alpha of his pack. It's meant that you follow in his footsteps."

Jacob's face paled. "But you're Alpha," he said.

"I stepped in because I was the first to shift, but it's only temporary. Once you phase, you'll take over."

Jacob gulped. "I don't want it," he said quietly.

"It's your destiny," Sam told him.

"I don't care. I don't want this. I don't even want to be a shifter, but I guess I can't escape from that. But I'm no leader; I won't be Alpha." He got up from the table. "Keep it, Sam. You seem to be doing a pretty good job of it." He turned away then and began to run off in the direction of the beach.

I got up at once, but Sam rose too and his voice halted me.

"How much did you tell him?"

"Um..." I felt my face flushing. He had seen right through us.

"Paul, I'm not a fool," Sam said.

"It was only on Monday after all that shit happened at school. I told him the legends were true, that I already phased and he would follow. And I told him I Imprinted. That's it," I confessed.

Sam sighed heavily, but then to my surprise he reached out and gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"I guess you were in a pretty impossible position," he said.

"Yeah, he started thinking I didn't want to be with him."

"Well, it's done now and at least he knows everything." He looked over his shoulder in the direction Jacob had gone. "You better get after him, hadn't you?"

"What about the Alpha role?" I asked. "Can he really turn it down?"

"If that's what he wants. I can't force him into it. I'll just carry on with things the way they are." He smiled suddenly. "It'll certainly make things easier for you."

I remembered what he said about us possibly fighting for the upper hand if Jacob took over as Alpha while I was the dominant partner in the relationship and I felt relieved.

I set off in the direction Jacob had gone, sprinting to try and catch up with him. I didn't see him until I reached the sand and there I found him sitting on that same rock where I had met him. I walked over to him.

"Is Sam going to try and force me to lead the pack?" he asked.

"No. If you really don't want it, he'll stay Alpha."

"I don't. Like I said to him, I'm no leader. I don't want the responsibility either."

I sat down on the rock behind him now, one leg either side of him, and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned against me and turned his head to kiss my cheek.

"I thought of something else," he said. "If I was Alpha, wouldn't it fuck things up between us?"

"Maybe. Sam thought we might fight for control."

"Well, that's the best reason yet for me to leave it to Sam," Jacob said with a smile. "I like things the way they are."

"Me too." I teased his ear with the tip of my tongue. "I love you."

We stayed on the beach for another hour or so and then walked back to Jacob's. He suggested trying out the bike now that it was running and he wheeled it out of the workshop. It started on the second attempt and we spent a couple of hours riding it around the outside of the house and workshop. Jacob taught me how to ride and after a while he climbed on the back and held tight around my waist as I rode along the cliff path, turned off alongside Sam's house and then tore up and down the meadow.

We ate with Billy that evening and then spent a few hours in the workshop, taking a lot more time over each other than we had all week. The last few times we had been together, we had pounced on each other almost desperately as if we didn't have much time left, but now we teased and tasted and stroked and nibbled and finished by screwing slowly, clinging to each other. I tore myself away from him very reluctantly to go home and then spent an hour having a text conversation with him after I got into bed.

On Sunday, I spent most of the day with the pack. At least I could now tell Jacob it was a pack meeting rather than make up something about family get togethers and then feel like shit about it. He would have been invited to join us from the beginning, except for the fact that Embry phased. We had known it was coming, but didn't expect such a sudden transformation.

I woke in the early hours of the morning when I heard whining outside the house and both Sam and I jumped out of bed, dragging ourselves sleepily to the door. Sam opened it to find a bedraggled looking grey wolf outside, crouching on the porch in the pouring rain, eyes wide and terrified. We quickly shed our shorts, stepped outside and phased.

_"Embry,"_ Sam's voice said. _"What happened?"_

It wasn't Embry's voice we heard, but a projection of thoughts, almost like part of a movie. Everyone knew Embry had been after this girl, Marie, for quite a while. She lived close to Jared and Embry had become completely obsessed with her, even though he had only actually spoken to her a few times. On Saturday evening he had finally plucked up the courage to go to her house to ask her on a date. She answered the door herself and smiled, seemingly pleased to see him, but when he asked her out, she giggled and said she was busy. A moment later a guy appeared at the door, wrapping his arms around her from behind, sneering at Embry, making him feel stupid. Marie just laughed and the pair of them closed the door in his face.

He strode away, hurt and humiliated, deciding to just go home and hide away rather than come and talk to us or Quil. Moments later he was a wolf and even though he expected it, the sudden shock had scared the hell out of him. He had been running around all night in the rain, unable to go home and not wanting to come to Sam's and wake everyone up.

_"Jesus, Embry,"_ Sam groaned. _"We're brothers - I don't just mean you and me, I mean all of us, the pack. If one of us needs something, the others are here twenty-four-seven. Don't ever suffer alone, for any reason."_

_"The first time this happened to me, I was freaked out too," _I said._ "It was the middle of the night; my Dad hit me..."_

_"What did you do?" _Embry asked. _"I mean, to make him go for you in the middle of the night."_

_"I had a nightmare, I was yelling out Jacob's name._ _My Dad hates me being gay more than anything else. I phased in my room, had to jump out the window before I was tempted to attack my Dad. I ran to the woods at first and then came here. I howled and Sam and Jared came to me in seconds."_

The three of us spent some time wandering about in the woods, continuing to talk to Embry until he was calm again; then we took him back to the house and all phased back. He didn't seem to have any trouble with that part and Sam let us into the house to get some clothes. I gave Embry a pair of my cut-offs along with a belt as he was much thinner than both me and Sam. It was already around lunch time and Emily made us some sandwiches while we sat around talking. Embry seemed much happier about the situation and even laughed at himself for getting so hooked on a girl that had no interest in him.

Jared arrived while we were in the middle of lunch and helped himself to a sandwich. Sam quickly filled him in on Embry's transformation and then suggested I call Jacob and ask him to join us.

"Seriously?" I knew my face lit up like a beacon and Jared and Embry smirked at me.

"He's part of this now, even though he hasn't shifted yet," Sam said. "From the look of him, it won't be long before he does."

I grabbed my cellphone and called him at once. He rode over on the bike and after a while we all went down to the beach. Sam and Jared dived into the sea and after a brief hesitation, Embry joined them. I stayed on the sand with Jacob, ignoring them taunting me from the water.

"How long do you think it'll be before I shift?" Jacob asked me.

"I don't know. It seems like some kind of stressful event started if off for the rest of us," I said. "Embry told you what happened last night with him and you know about me. Jared got in a fight with some kid right before he shifted the first time and with Sam it was similar. He used to go out with Leah Clearwater and they had a fight. He didn't even know what he was so when he suddenly turned into a wolf it scared the hell out of him. He ran away and hid in the woods for two weeks."

"Shit," Jacob said.

"Like Sam said yesterday though, muscle growth is only the first sign. When you start running around outdoors in just a t-shirt like the rest of us, with a temperature of a hundred and eight, then you'll know it won't be long."

"Right now, I can't even imagine that." Jacob shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around him.

"I'll just have to keep you warm until then," I grinned, wrapping my arms around him.

We stayed that way until the others emerged from the sea, teasing us, and then returned to Sam's house for the rest of the day. Jared and Embry eventually left in the late evening, but Jacob stayed over again. I only wished he could stay over permanently - I hated letting him out of my sight for a minute.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The next few weeks flew by. Much to my surprise, I liked my new tutor. She was a middle aged divorced lady called Ms Summers, who dressed as if she still lived in the Seventies and had a sense of humour to rival all others. Her teaching style was far from boring and I found myself happy to work hard and complete the assignments she set me. She reported to Sam that if I carried on the way I was going, I would sail through my exams. In addition, I loved working for Sam and seemed to have a talent for working with wood, the same as he did. In no time I was completing jobs without any help from him and receiving enthusiastic feedback from customers.

I spent every evening with Jacob and he began staying over with me all weekend at Sam's. Sam didn't mind him being there and said only that he and Emily didn't wish to hear what we got up to. Consequently we played music or had the television on when we had sex, since neither of us could manage to stay completely silent and we refrained from doing it when Sam and Emily were trying to sleep.

Sundays was always the day for the pack to hang out at the house. Embry was happy with his new status now and had cut his hair short to make him less shaggy when in wolf form. The four of us usually phased for a while on the days we spent together and went hunting or simply ran in the woods. Meanwhile, Quil drifted away from us, left out as he as yet had shown no signs of shifting. He didn't get why Embry wanted to spend so much time at our place. Jacob he understood because he and I were practically joined at the hip. Embry fobbed Quil off by saying he was trying to get to know his brother properly, but in the end Quil fell to sulking and found some other friends at school to spend his time with.

Jacob's development didn't progress any further. He was virtually the same size as me in height and muscle, but his temperature didn't increase and he didn't lose his temper or even get irritated by anything. None of us knew why, although Sam guessed that it could be something to do with him being so happy. When the rest of us had phased, we had all been stressed, hurt, angry or whatever. Jacob started developing muscle around the time I first phased and then lost his temper that day because of the way I was behaving. He was hurt and worried, but since I told him about me and then Sam filled him in on the rest, he had absolutely nothing going on his life that bothered him. He knew I loved him, he had got used to the idea of what would eventually happen to him and was able to learn much more from Billy, who had since told him he could attend the next council meeting. I immediately confessed I had already been to one, hoping Jacob wouldn't be upset to hear I'd sat there with Billy and both of us had lied to him, but it didn't seem to concern him now that he knew why.

At Christmas, Billy and Jacob came over to spend the day with us and Jared and Embry joined us for a few hours in the afternoon. Emily cooked a turkey with all the trimmings and afterwards we exchanged presents. Sam and Emily gave me a package containing a dozen pairs of assorted jeans and pants, since although I was pretty calm lately I was still the least capable of controlling myself out of everyone and consequently ruined many of my clothes. The gift created much amusement and I pretended to be offended, throwing a pair of jeans at Sam's head.

I had bought Jacob a laptop. He had said a few times in the past that he wished he had one and what with the money I still had left in my savings box and the small amount I had added to it from what Sam paid me, I could easily afford one, especially since Sam got me a good deal from someone he had built some decking for who sold computers. Jacob was delighted with it and highly amused by the picture I had installed as a screensaver - a shot of me in my wolf form that I had persuaded Emily to take one day when Jacob wasn't around. He still hadn't seen me phase. The picture had me standing close to the picnic table, which gave some perspective as to our size.

"Shit, you're huge!" Jacob exclaimed.

Everyone immediately burst into raucous laughter, even Billy, embarrassingly enough.

"I don't think we need to know that," Embry snorted.

"Fuck off," muttered Jacob, his face flaming. "Sorry, Emily."

I was escorted outside to receive my present from Jacob. Everyone else crowded to the door and window as he led me over to Billy's truck and whipped off the tarp which covered the back of it. Inside was the motorcycle.

"It was meant to be for you from the start," he said. "Ever since you helped me work on it and said you wanted one."

"Are you serious?" I cried. "This is fantastic!" I grabbed the bike and lifted it out of the truck, propping it up on its side stand. Then I turned away from it for a moment and threw my arms around Jacob. "Thank you." I kissed him until loud jeers from the doorway made me back off reluctantly, then I started up the bike and rode a couple of laps of the meadow before I parked it up in the lean-to at the side of the house.

It was a couple of days after Christmas when Jacob and I were sprawling on my bed playing games on his new laptop that he asked to see me phase. The wolf picture fascinated him and he said he wanted to see me like that for real. Ridiculously I felt nervous, worrying that I might scare him off - completely stupid since he would join me eventually, but that's how I felt. We went for a walk into the woods in the late afternoon just before dusk and I took my clothes off first rather than ruin yet another set of pants. Jacob leaned against a tree and watched with interest.

"Don't look at me like that," I muttered, aware of his eyes exploring every inch of me. The way things were going I would end up a horny wolf.

"Sorry," Jacob said, not looking in the least apologetic.

"Just stay where you are and don't freak out," I said. "I'm going to have to think about something that pisses me off."

I backed away a good twenty feet and brought to mind Jacob lying on the ground outside the gas station after Bobbie had beaten him up. That always did it. Heat boiled up inside me instantly. A couple of seconds later I was on all fours, snarling and showing my teeth.

"Woah, shit!" Jacob exclaimed.

I shut my mouth quickly and relaxed a little. It seemed to be all or nothing with me. The others didn't seem to have a lot of trouble being fairly calm wolves, but the minute I relaxed enough to look as if I wasn't ready to rip someone's head off, I usually shifted back to human. I stood still and waited for Jacob to come to me, rather than advance on him.

"I guess you can only communicate with the others when they're phased, right?" he said.

I nodded my head slowly. He walked cautiously towards me and stretched his hand out to touch my fur. I dropped my head lower and he scratched the top of my head and then stroked one ear.

"Wow," he said under his breath.

My eyes half closed and I stood there languishing under his touch, unable to stop myself thinking about fucking him, until moments later I found myself crouching naked on the ground with Jacob's hand still resting on my head. In addition I was rock hard. Damnit. I stood up and slid my arms around him, my dick jabbing into his stomach.

"See what you do to me?" I groaned.

Jacob smiled and slid his hand between us to touch me. "Is this why you changed back so quick?"

"I can't keep my mind on anything else when you touch me." I shuddered as he gripped me more firmly and began to jack me off with long slow strokes.

It was over pretty quickly and I stepped away from him reluctantly and began to put my clothes back on. Rather than go back to Sam's, we went to Jacob's workshop. The brief moment of pleasure had only made me desperate to have him and much to my surprise, he confessed to being turned on by seeing me phase and then turn back so rapidly because of him touching me. Within twenty minutes I was pinning him to the workshop couch, ramming myself into him vigorously until we came together, clinging to each other and panting for breath. I returned to Sam's alone some time later, Jacob deciding to spend a little time with his Dad as they hadn't had much time together so far over the Christmas holidays.

It was only just over a week now until my sixteenth birthday on Saturday 7 January. With Jacob's being exactly a week later, Sam decided to throw us a joint party on Jacob's birthday and invited a houseful of people over. It was the first time we had seen Quil in weeks and he had apparently been in two minds about accepting the invitation, feeling that Jacob and Embry had mostly abandoned him.

When Bella Swan arrived with her Dad, Quil spent a good portion of his time with her rather than us. Jacob told me Quil had taken a real fancy to Bella when he first saw her some months before and it was pretty obvious to me when I watched them. She made it clear she wasn't interested and escaped eventually to hang around Jacob. I left him to it and went to sit with Sam instead. I wasn't keen on Bella, not least because she was dating one of the Cullen bloodsuckers. Sam had told all of us about them, how we couldn't touch them because of a treaty as long as they stayed off our land. It was other vampires we aimed to kill; those who killed humans. The Cullens lived on the blood of animals.

I listened into Jacob and Bella's conversation for a few minutes and must have heard her speak the name 'Edward' a dozen times before I tuned out again and concentrated on Sam and Emily. Bella was obsessed, it seemed. I grinned to myself. Probably not as much as I was with Jacob, though.

"...Paul..."

I pricked my ears up again as I heard my name.

"...a few months," Jacob was saying.

"Seriously? You never told me that," Bella said.

"I haven't seen much of you lately, have I?"

"So you're really dating him?"

"It's more than that."

I grinned and carried on listening.

"Does your Dad know?"

"Yeah, he's cool with it," Jacob said.

"What about Sam and Emily?"

"Them too. I stay over here quite a bit."

"Wow!" Bella exclaimed. "I never would have thought you'd go for someone like Paul. He's so...I don't know...aggressive and violent."

"Not with me," Jacob said. "He had some issues, that's all."

"Didn't he get expelled from school a few weeks back for fighting and stuff?"

"No, Sam took him out of school. He has a tutor."

"You should be careful," Bella said.

"What do you mean?"

"That he doesn't hurt you."

"That's not going to happen," Jacob told her a little sharply. "He's crazy about me. If you're just going to bitch about him, then change the subject."

"Gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Bella reddened slightly.

I got to my feet, smirking. I couldn't stop myself butting in. Jacob had his back to me and I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him.

"Did I hear my name mentioned?" I eyed Bella over his shoulder and raised one eyebrow.

"How could you possibly hear what we were talking about? You were right across the room and with all this noise in here..." Bella said.

"I got good ears."

She flushed uncomfortably and lowered her eyes, fiddling with a button on her shirt. I kissed Jacob's cheek.

"Come with me."

"I was...mingling," Jacob said, turning his head a little to smile at me.

"Well, come and mingle with me. I miss you. You've been mingling for...about ten minutes," I grinned.

Jacob raised his hand and glanced at his new wristwatch - the one I had given him earlier in the day for his birthday gift. "Getting possessive?" he teased.

"Yeah."

"I'll leave you to it." Biting her lip, Bella excused herself and went over to her Dad.

"Sorry," I said. "I can't help it; I want you to myself."

Jacob turned around and pressed himself against me. "That's ok. I still didn't give you your present yet."

"I thought you were just going to give me yourself," I whispered, hugging him tighter.

"I'm dessert, when this crowd goes home," he said in my ear.

"Jesus, don't tease me." The last thing I wanted to do was start getting turned on with the house full of people.

Jacob laughed. "I put it in your room, come and see. Don't get too excited, it's not much."

"You want to go to my room and me not get excited?" I let go of him and he punched me playfully.

"Hell, guys, can't you cool it even for a couple of hours?" Embry said as he passed us.

"Wait until you Imprint," I said in a low voice. "Then you won't ask stupid questions."

Jacob's gift to me was something he had made himself. I knew he didn't have much money after he had bought Christmas gifts for everyone and in truth I didn't really expect anything. The fact that he had made me a gift delighted me. It was a hand-worked leather belt with a metal buckle forged in the shape of a wolf's head. It was put together in such a way that if I phased, the buckle would spring off and allow the belt to just fly free of my ruined pants, meaning that it could be rescued later.

"You really made this?" I said, examining the buckle. It was incredibly well done.

"Yeah. It's not much," he repeated, grinning.

"It's perfect. I love it." I slotted it through the belt loops of my jeans and fastened it at once. I kissed him for a long moment and then reluctantly pulled away to return to the party. I would rather have just partied with him all night, but we had a houseful of guests and it was only for a few hours. He would be staying with me after they all left.

Finally the last couple of people left around twelve-thirty and Emily insisted we all go to bed and do the clearing up in the morning. The house looked as if there had been some kind of explosion and I was only too pleased to ignore it for a few more hours. I took Jacob back to my room and for once, we had sex without music or anything, doing the best we could to stay quiet. However, much to our amusement a reasonably loud groan came from Sam and Emily's room moments later and we stopped worrying about it quite so much after that. It was a special occasion after all.

The following week Jacob went back to school with the others. It had remained closed for ten days longer than usual due to flood damage after persistent torrential rain. I hated suddenly being parted from him again after spending the best part of a month with him. Ms Summers had returned to continue tutoring me a week before, but Jacob had still hung around, working on his laptop or something rather than not be in my company. Now he was back at school, we got through an astronomical amount of cellphone credit.

Gradually the winter came to an end and with it, news of random killings around Forks and other nearby towns. Sam brought the pack together that Sunday as usual and told us vampires were responsible for the murders and it was our job to track them down and kill them.

I was immediately filled with excitement. The whole purpose of us being shape-shifters was finally being called upon. Jacob still hadn't phased and he listened to us talk in silence, knowing he wouldn't be part of it. However, later that day when Jared and Embry had gone home and Jacob and I were in my room, I reached out to touch him and realised he probably wasn't going to be left behind for very long. He was burning up. At least he felt the same temperature as me, rather than cool when I put my hands on him.

"How long have you been this hot?" I asked.

"Only since I got up this morning."

"You feel sick or anything?"

"No."

"Aches and pains?"

"No. You think I'm going to catch you up at last?"

"Maybe."

"Good, I'm tired of waiting." He had got used to the idea that he would eventually phase and although at the beginning he hadn't wanted it, now he just longed to be part of the pack.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It was five more days before Jacob phased the first time. His temperature remained high and he stayed home on Thursday and Friday because Billy worried if something happened at school that upset him, it might happen there. Billy had called Sam who had tried to persuade Jacob to come over to our place, but he refused and hid away in his room. He wouldn't even see me on Thursday night and sent me text messages instead. After I finished work on Friday I went to see him.

"He hasn't been out of that room in two days except to go to the bathroom," Billy said worriedly. "He won't even eat."

I knocked on Jacob's door.

"Hey, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Paul, leave me alone," he grunted.

I ignored him and opened the door. He was lying on the bed in just his underwear, his skin slick with sweat, face flushed. I closed the door after me and leaned on it.

"Your Dad's worried about you," I said. "So is Sam."

"Aren't you?" he snapped, sitting up suddenly. "I'm sorry," he added immediately.

"Don't apologise."

"I feel like hell. When am I going to change?"

"Any minute, I'd say. Come back to my place. You shouldn't be on your own."

"I don't want to go to your place and have Sam and Jared and Embry all watching me like I'm a fucking science experiment!" Jacob barked. "Can't I _make_ it happen? Get it over with?"

"Maybe. I don't know about the first time, but you can after that. Why don't you come out just with me? It's going to start getting dark soon; we could go and hang out in the woods for a while, see what happens."

"Yeah, ok." Jacob got up quickly, pulled a pair of jeans on and shoved his feet into sneakers.

"You know, you're going to have to cut your hair," I said reluctantly.

"I know. Maybe I should do it now." He hesitated for a moment. "Will you do it?"

"I'm no barber," I said with a grin.

"Just hack it off, I don't care. Emily can always tidy it up later. When I feel better."

He opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors and some electric hair clippers. I had to wonder why he had hair clippers when both he and his Dad had long hair. He sat down again on the bed, his back half turned to me. I picked up the comb which lay on the bed table and grasped a handful of his hair. I hated to do it. I hesitated with the scissors in my hand for a long moment before I cut. Ten minutes later, he had short hair like mine. I used the clippers to neaten it up as much as I could and I suppose it didn't look too bad. I had left it about an inch long so Emily would have enough to work with to improve things. Jacob ran his hand over it when I finished.

"Shit," he muttered. "It hasn't been this short since I was nine years old. I started growing it after my Mom died."

We left the house a few minutes later and walked to the woods. Jacob didn't talk and it was clear he was nervous and irritable. It was only when we were hidden amongst the trees that he said anything.

"What do I have to do?"

"Being mad about something makes it happen pretty fast," I said. "I can't seem to do it just by willpower, I have to think about you being hurt or something. Sam and Jared just visualise themselves as wolves and they change. Embry hasn't said, but he manages it ok."

"I don't want it to just take me by surprise," Jacob said.

"You should take your jeans off," I told him. "Otherwise you'll have to walk back to Sam's naked."

"Yeah." He took his jeans and sneakers off, leaving his shorts on. I forced my mind not to turn to sex and did the same. If he did phase, I wanted to be able to catch him up in seconds so I could talk to him.

We were still there an hour later. Jacob didn't talk much; he paced about and thought, but nothing happened. Sweat ran off him and steam rose from his skin in the cool air, but he didn't change.

"I can't do it," he said eventually. "I can't concentrate on anything. Too nervous, I guess."

"Close your eyes," I told him.

"What?"

"Just do it." I was standing about ten feet away and I guessed it would be enough. He closed his eyes. "Clear your mind," I went on. "Relax and stop thinking about it for a minute."

He took a deep breath and then stood motionless. I didn't know if it would work or not, but Jared had once described what he did in detail and he never had any trouble.

"Imagine yourself on all fours. Imagine looking down at yourself; two large paws on the ground in front of you. When you look over your shoulder, fur, two more paws, tail..._woah!"_

Jacob's eyes flew open at my exclamation and after a second, looked down at himself, seeing what I was seeing. Damnit, I wasn't ready. I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured him hurt, bleeding, screaming in pain. I looked up again as a wolf.

_"Shit_," Jacob thought. _"It worked."_

I was unable to think of a coherent reply for a moment and I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was the same size as me, with thick russet fur, a slightly lighter coloured belly, deep brown eyes, long waving tail, rippling muscles under the fur.

_"You...are...beautiful."_ I couldn't stop myself thinking it.

_"Shut up."_ Jacob's embarrassed laugh came into my head.

_"I mean it. Stunning. Jesus, Paul, stop thinking that."_

_"I can hear everything you're thinking." _His tone was amused.

_"I know! Damnit."_

I heard Jacob's laugh in my head again; the laugh he gave when he was really tickled by something. His tongue was lolling out of his mouth and his eyes sparkling.

"_Well, I made it. And I'm...what was that, Paul? Beautiful?"_

_"Huh. Yeah." _I shook myself vigorously.

"_That mean you think I'm better looking as a wolf than a human?"_

"_What the hell. I can just be honest. I always thought you were beautiful. Since my first day at school when you were walking towards the lockers with Embry and Quil and I was with those jerks I used to __call friends and I was like...wow. That's him. The kid from the beach. All I could think about was kissing you again."_

More laughter and then he stopped teasing me long enough to ask what happened next. We spent maybe a couple of hours as wolves, bounding through the forest and playing together like a pair of foolish puppies. Eventually we returned to where we had left our clothes. Jacob phased back before I did; it was virtually instant, as if he'd had months of practise. I took a minute longer.

"God, you're good," I said. "For the first time, you're better at it than me already."

"I just saw myself human," he said, shrugging. "It just happened."

"How do you feel now?" I asked.

"Good. Relieved." He grinned suddenly. "Interested to know you think I'm beautiful."

"Don't start that again." I stepped closer to him and slid my arms around him. "I'm not too good at keeping my thoughts to myself. Hell, once when this first happened to me, I was thinking about you..." I brushed my lips against his. "...kissing you...touching you..."

"When you were with Sam and Jared?" Jacob laughed again. "They must have loved that."

"Not especially," I grinned. I made myself let go of him before I was tempted to start something else. "I guess we better go and see Sam."

"Yeah. And Emily. I didn't dare look in the mirror." He ran a hand over his new short hair.

We reached the house in about a half hour and found Sam and Emily just finishing dinner.

"You shifted?" Sam said, the minute he saw Jacob.

"Yeah."

"Paul, I told you to bring him here." Sam frowned at me.

"Don't blame him, I said I didn't want to come here," Jacob said. "I wouldn't have felt comfortable with you all looking at me. It was fine."

"It was more than fine," I put in. "He's a natural."

"That's good," Sam nodded.

"Who cut your hair?" Emily asked.

"Me," I said, grimacing slightly.

"Goodness, Paul, did you do it in the dark?" Emily ushered Jacob over to a stool. "Sit there, let me tidy this up." She pulled out scissors and a comb and began snipping away at top speed.

"I'll call Billy, let him know you're ok," Sam said, going to the phone. Afterwards, he called Jared and Embry, instructing them to come over on Saturday morning rather than wait until Sunday since we had now become five.

"What are we going to be doing?" I asked him when he finished calling everyone.

"Training. We're going to have to start a regular patrol. The Cullens killed one of the creatures not too long ago. His two companions are back in the area. They're responsible for the recent killings we've all heard about on the news, but it seems they're also after someone in particular. Bella Swan."

"Shit!" exclaimed Jacob. "Why her?"

"Because she's the Cullens' pet. The Cullens killed one of these three nomads to protect her. The two remaining are Laurent and Victoria. The female is the more dangerous. The one they killed was her mate and she's after revenge as well as wanting Bella."

"Seems like I caught up to you guys just in time, then," Jacob said.

He stayed with me that night, as he usually did at the weekends. We went to my room fairly early, eager to get our hands on each other and I switched on the television to mask the sounds. We tried something new, fueled by our phasing earlier; Jacob crouching on hands and knees in the middle of my bed while I kneeled behind him, holding onto his hips with both hands and pounding myself vigorously into him.

Afterwards we lay panting, holding each other, then talking long into the night about what lay ahead of us - danger, excitement and possibly death on both sides. I knew if it came to it I would put myself in between him and the vampires, even if it meant them finishing me. Since I Imprinted on him I was fiercely protective. Tom and Bobbie had been nothing really, easily driven away when I turned on them. The vampires - Laurent and Victoria - would be another matter, but I would do everything in my power to keep Jacob safe, however strong and capable of fighting he was.

Jared and Embry arrived at eight in the morning and shared the cooked breakfast that Emily prepared for all of us. Both were keen to hear about Jacob's phasing and teased him for taking so long to catch up. Later, all of us went out to the woods and phased together. Annoyingly it was me that the others had to wait for. Sam and Jacob were the first two to transform, followed by Jared and then Embry. I was surprised by how quick Jacob did it this time and once again, struck by his stunning colour and looks. Too busy admiring him, I lost concentration and remained human for another couple of minutes. By the time I phased, the others were laughing.

_"Hey, what took you so long?" _Jared teased.

_"Fuck off, I was just taking my time. Admiring Jacob. He looks amazing. I want to..."_

_"Jesus, Paul!" _Jacob was laughing again. _"I see what you mean about not being able to control your thoughts."_

_"I can't help it." _

An image of me with Jacob, devouring him, unfastening his pants filled my head and I shoved it away immediately, mortified, hoping they hadn't all seen it. Unfortunately a split second was all it took and as soon as Jacob saw the picture in my head, it was in his too. He added to it by imagining me pushing him down onto the bed, lowering myself onto him.

_"Please, stop thinking!" _exclaimed Embry.

_"Guys! Enough fooling about!"_ Sam's rumbling voice came into our heads. _"This isn't a game."_

_"Sorry."_ I turned my eyes away from Jacob and looked at Sam instead - huge, black, menacing, his mind on the vampires. Instantly I pulled myself together.

We spent several hours in wolf form, travelling for miles, trying to pick up the scent of the bloodsuckers. There was nothing; at the moment they were nowhere near. We returned to where we had left our clothes and phased back. Once again I was last. I turned my back to the others.

_"Don't look at him. The last thing you want is to phase back with a fucking hard-on."_ I thanked God they were all in human form already and didn't hear me. I didn't know what was the matter with me. We were in a serious situation and all I seemed to be capable of thinking about was sex.

A second later I was crouching on the ground, human, naked and...hard. Shit. At least I had turned away from them. I dragged my pants on quickly, shoved my feet into my shoes and my hands into my pockets before I turned around. Sam, Jared and Embry had already begun to walk back to the house and luckily didn't notice anything.

"Jesus, I don't know what's wrong with me," I muttered as Jacob and I followed at a distance.

"My beautiful wolf just makes you horny," Jacob sniggered.

"You make me horny, whatever form you're in."

"We can still hear you!" Embry shouted over his shoulder.

Jacob laughed some more. He seemed to be in high spirits again now that he had finally phased and got over the worry of it taking him by surprise.

We spent the next day doing more or less the same thing as we had on Saturday and then Jacob, Jared and Embry went back to school on Monday. No one really worried that Jacob might get in trouble there. He seemed to have incredible control already, even phasing mid-run on Sunday afternoon. One moment he had been sprinting towards the woods wearing cut-offs and sneakers and the next he was a bounding wolf, his pants having exploded off him. He didn't break his stride even for a second and I was in awe. I doubted I would ever be able to do that, however much I practised. I would probably fall flat on my face if I managed it at all.

It was a week later that Laurent came back. It was Saturday morning and we were hanging out around the picnic table behind the house. Sam sensed the vampire was nearby and we all rose as one from the table.

"He's close. Go." Sam began to run towards the trees, the rest of us on his heels. He phased before he reached the woods, Jacob and Jared right with him.

"Fuck," I muttered. "I have to learn to do this."

I carried on running with Embry, imagining that Jacob was some way ahead of me, being attacked, needing my help and that I was in my wolf form running to him. I had to close my eyes for a second to force myself into it and I phased just as Embry did. I opened my eyes again right before I smashed into a tree trunk and the impact bowled me over.

_"Hell, Paul, you're so clumsy!"_

I heard Embry's laugh and I scrambled up and shot after him, snarling. Now I was pissed and I flew past him, quickly catching up with the others. I immediately began to smell something; an awful stench like death making my nostrils twitch and my throat burn.

_"What the hell is that stink?"_ I aimed at Sam.

_"It's Laurent."_

_"That's what they smell like?"_

_"They're dead, Paul, what do you expect them to smell like?" _

Suddenly he stopped running and halted right in front of me. I only just managed to avoid running into him and making myself look even more of a fool. I took a step forward, bringing me between him and Jacob. We were on the edge of a large clearing.

_"Bella,"_ Jacob's voice said.

She was in the middle of the opening, apparently about to be devoured by Laurent. He was dark skinned, wearing his hair in long dreadlocks and the smell of him threatened to make me vomit.

_"Go!" _Sam bounded clear of the trees and I followed with Embry beside me.

Laurent sprang away from Bella and began to run, then turned suddenly, throwing his arm out and slamming it into Sam as he pounced. I paused briefly as Sam's body twisted in the air and was thrown backwards, landing on his side on the ground. He leaped up again and made another run at the vampire, the rest of us now with him. We pursued the creature into the trees and then Sam and Jared broke away, diving down a path and looping back, cutting off Laurent's escape route. He halted and I found myself just feet away from him. I wondered briefly if he would taste as bad as he smelled and then I pounced.

My teeth sank into his arm and I was stunned by the hardness of his flesh. Sam had said they were like stone. I tore at him as Sam pinned him to the ground, his paws on the vampire's shoulders while Jared ripped the other arm from the body. From the corner of my eye I noticed a flash of russet as Jacob reached us and then he was on the fallen creature, lips peeled back from his teeth as he lunged forward and sank them into Laurent's throat, tearing it out.

Somehow I hadn't expected Jacob to be like that. He was usually so sweet and gentle and yet in wolf form, suddenly he was violent, efficient and he didn't hesitate. I backed off, part of a severed arm hanging from my jaws, watching him with complete awe and respect. It crossed my mind that if he hadn't turned it down, he would make a powerful leader.

He backed off from Laurent now, shaking himself and met my eyes, showing his teeth in a grin as opposed to a snarl.

Sam finished the job. The vampire was dead, but it wouldn't be completely over until the head was severed from the body. Sam opened his jaws, clamped them onto Laurent's head and wrenched it free, then tossed it into the undergrowth behind him.

_"We're done here."_ He began to trot back the way we had come, skirting the clearing now.

_"What about Bella?"_ It was Jacob's voice.

_"She'll be fine. We can do nothing like this. Call her when we get home."_

_"What if the other one's around?" _Embry asked, referring to Victoria.

_"She's not. We'd smell her."_

Sam broke into a run and the rest of us followed on his heels until we reached the house. All of us had phased in our clothes and we waited outside while he changed back, ran into the house and brought out an armful of jeans, mostly mine. My Christmas gift was proving useful already.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

With Laurent gone, there was no more excitement for a while. Well, Jacob and I had plenty. Our first couple of days of phasing together with the pack gave us an idea and the following weekend, when Sam took Emily out for a day, we phased in the woods and ran together just for the fun of it. I tried phasing on the run again and for the first time managed it with my eyes open and without falling over anything. We let our thoughts go wherever they wanted and discovered we could torment each other by visualising ourselves together, kissing, touching, licking. Just as the week before when we had been trying _not_ to do it, one of us would get an image in our head and share it until both of us were frustrated beyond belief. Then we raced back to the house and fell upon each other as if we were starving. The game proved great fun, but I knew I was going to have to make more effort to keep things in my mind shut away when the others were phased.

The next Sunday, we had a visit from Quil. Obviously Jacob, Embry and Jared still saw him at school in class, but he had kept out of their way during breaks, spending his time with his new friends. Consequently the others hadn't noticed much change in him so when he arrived at Sam's just as we were all tucking into one of Emily's brunches, several mouths fell open. I hadn't actually seen him myself since the birthday party in January.

Quil appeared around the side of the house and then hesitated when he saw the five of us all sitting there like brothers. Jacob and Embry glanced at each other and I knew they felt guilty for leaving him behind. However, it looked like he would soon be catching up. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, his shoulders and arms bulging with muscles.

"Here comes number six," Jared whispered.

"I talked to his grandfather a couple of days ago," Sam said. "He didn't think it would be long. Hey, Quil. Come over and join us, there's plenty of food."

"Hey, guys." Quil sat down and Emily brought him a plate.

Jacob and Embry began talking to him as he ate and he soon seemed to relax amongst us. After brunch, I took Jacob and Embry back in the house while Sam and Jared talked to Quil. When Sam called us out again later, Quil was beaming from ear to ear. He leaped up excitedly.

"I can't believe it! All this time! I wish I'd known, I thought I must have pissed you off or something."

"You're happy about this?" Jacob said in surprise.

"Hell, yeah! Who wouldn't be? Finally I made the pack! You know, I would've kept it to myself, you could have said something. I know, I know, you couldn't." Quil had always been a chatterbox and now his tongue continued to flap away in excitement until Emily started to clear away the brunch dishes. "Woah, wait, don't waste that bacon!" He grabbed his fork again and jabbed at the last couple of pieces left in the dish. The rest of us exchanged glances and couldn't help grinning. Six was a good number and Quil was certainly going to be a great addition to the pack.

It was only three days before Quil phased. His grandfather sent him to see us on Wednesday night just as everyone was getting ready for bed. Jacob was staying over and he and I and Sam gathered at the door a minute after Quil knocked. He was wearing only shorts and sneakers, sweat running off him in rivulets. He looked up at Jacob in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

"I stay over most of the time."

"With...?" He eyed me for a second. "Oh!"

Jacob grinned.

"Let's get out of here," Sam said. "Come on guys."

The four of us went to walk around the meadow but we had barely gone one lap when Quil stopped suddenly, panting.

"I feel weird," he said. "Chest hurts. Hot."

Jacob and I backed away and Sam began to take his jeans off.

"What are you...?" Quil phased before he finished his sentence and Sam followed suit in the blink of an eye.

"Shit, that was quick," I muttered. "Better join them."

Jacob and I dropped our pants and phased quickly. Somehow since last week when the two of us had played around together, I seemed much more efficient at it. Finally I could just imagine myself in wolf form and I was, instead of having to conjure up horrific scenes in my head of Jacob being hurt.

_"Wow! I can't believe I'm really a wolf! Awesome!"_ Quil was exclaiming, prancing around in a circle, his tongue hanging out. He stopped suddenly and looked down at himself. _"What the hell colour am I?"_

_"Chocolate,"_ Jacob said.

_"Weird._" He eyed the rest of us - black, russet and grey. _"Cool, though. What about Embry? And Jared?"_

_"Grey and brown_," Jacob said. _"And Embry's kind of spotty."_

_"Figures, his face is pretty spotty," __snorted Quil__. "When are we all going to do this together?"_

_"Saturday,"_ Sam said. "_Come over at nine."_

_"At night?"_

_"No, in the morning, doofus," _Jacob replied.

_"Sure, ok. Hey, when are we going to kill some vampires?"_

_"Hopefully not yet," _Sam said firmly. _"It's not something to be excited about, Quil."_

_"Sorry._ _This whole thing is exciting. Finally I got my friends back!"_ He phased back at that moment and the rest of us followed quickly, grabbing our pants from the ground where we had left them.

"Damn, that was over quick," Quil said, looking disappointed. "What happened to my shorts?"

"You tore them off. I'll get you a spare pair." I left them and sprinted over to the house.

Quil stayed that night on the sofa and then set off for school with Jacob in the morning. They left early so Quil could collect his school things on the way to the bus.

When we all got together at the weekend, it became clear that Quil had dropped his new friends like hot potatoes and was spending his time with Jacob and Embry again, and Jared too.

Soon after this, much to everyone's surprise both Leah and Seth Clearwater phased. Sam had always suspected Seth might, but he was only just fifteen and his body hadn't even begun to fill out. As for Leah - that was the biggest shock. She was the first known female to shift, the shock of Harry Clearwater having a heart attack and dying causing it to happen. Seth's premature phasing seemed to have been caused by seeing his sister suddenly turn into a wolf, when he knew nothing about the shape-shifters.

So the pack became eight, although it wasn't a particularly happy eight. Both Jacob and I agreed everyone would have been better off without Leah. Because she had loved Sam and was now bitter that he had Imprinted on Emily and in turn Sam was pained that he had hurt her, the rest of us constantly had to hear their thoughts, which Sam had always been able to keep to himself before Leah's arrival. Now he was unable to stop himself responding to the misery and anger she emanated and the rest of us suffered alongside him. At least it helped keep my mind off sex, which was obviously a great relief to the others.

Eventually the pack continued in a similar way to how it had been before we killed Laurent - phasing together, running and sparring as we knew worse was to come. Victoria was still around somewhere and it would only be a matter of time before she came back to avenge James' death and try to kill Bella.

Nothing actually happened until after school ended. I went into Forks with my tutor to take my exams while the others did theirs at school, although I was allowed to attend graduation. I was delighted - and Sam proud - when I passed all of my exams with flying colours; even history. The others all did pretty well too and when it was over, the Cullens threw a graduation party at their house. Jacob, Embry and Quil went, mainly because Jacob wanted to see how Bella was doing. I guess I should have gone too, but I didn't like the girl and I liked the Cullens even less, so I stayed home with Sam and fidgeted all evening, missing Jacob.

"You could have gone to the party," Sam said with a grin when I had crossed and uncrossed my legs a dozen times and bitten half the nails off my fingers.

"Yeah, I know."

"What are you worried about, anyway?"

"Nothing, I just miss him."

The door flew open moments later and Jacob came in. Even after the seven or so months since I Imprinted, nothing had changed for me. I still ached like part of me was missing when he wasn't with me and then filled up with excitement the minute I saw him again. I knew it was the same for Sam too, with Emily, but at least they were barely apart for more than an hour or two at a time.

"How was it?" Sam asked now.

"So so. We have a problem." Jacob sat down on the sofa next to me.

"Go on." Sam looked at him expectantly.

"Alice Cullen, the one who has visions, has seen an army on its way. An army of newborn vampires. They're after the Cullens and Bella."

"An army? How many?"

"I don't know. She couldn't see the numbers. She doesn't know who's leading them either, but they're going to need some help from us."

"Shit," I muttered. "How soon?" I almost wished I'd gone to the party after all.

"I don't know. They're gathering in Seattle apparently. I said we'd help." He glanced at Sam. "Sorry."

Sam shook his head briefly. "It doesn't matter. I would have said the same."

"Carlisle Cullen suggested we all get together to train if you agree," Jacob went on.

"Of course. I'll call and speak to him myself and make the arrangements." Sam went into the kitchen to use the phone and Emily gathered up a couple of empty mugs and followed him.

"Hey, I missed you," I said at once, wrapping my arm around Jacob.

"Me too."

I kissed his ear. "Let's go to bed."

"Ok."

We got up and headed for my room, pausing as Sam emerged from the kitchen again.

"Training tomorrow, ten o'clock," he said. "I'll call Jared now and ask him to round the others up."

The next day was the first of several training sessions. We phased before going to meet the Cullens and the youngest male, Jasper, instructed us on how to kill the newborns, which were much more powerful than older vampires. If they had the chance to get their arms around us, they could crush our bones.

The Cullens then demonstrated their abilities so that we would know what to expect, before we took part in mock fights with them. My first dual was with Emmett, who I had already had a couple of altercations with in the past. I liked him even less than the others and as I prepared to spring, I heard Sam's voice in my head.

_"Take it easy, Paul, this isn't real. Not yet."_

I made sure not to bite, although I was sorely tempted. It turned out that we were pretty evenly matched with the Cullens, but as the newborns were more powerful, we would need a plan of attack.

After the sparring ended, Carlisle instructed that the battle would take place in the clearing where we had killed Laurent. They would wait for the army to appear and once the fighting started, we would use the element of surprise and ambush the attackers from the nearby trees. They wouldn't be expecting a pack of wolves to pounce on them and it would tip the scales in the Cullens' favour, regardless of the army's number.

We had only days before we were called upon. The plan was for Edward Cullen to take Bella up into the mountains away from the battle zone and keep her safe there while the rest of us fought. Seth had been instructed to go with them for additional protection. Sam didn't let on that the real reason was to keep Seth out of harm's way until the boy had already left, knowing he would be upset that he was to be kept out of it.

Everyone suspected Victoria to be behind the invasion even though Alice couldn't see her and when we all gathered in the woods close to the clearing, for once there was no fooling about, no laughing and joking from Quil and no teasing between me and Jacob. All of us knew we would be fighting to the death and it would only be luck if none of us got badly hurt.

We waited there in the trees, out of sight until it started. The Cullens could be seen at one side of the clearing and when they suddenly ran from the trees, almost faster than the eye could see, we all looked to the right and immediately saw the army heading towards our allies at similar speed. There appeared to be thirty or more of them and when the two groups came together, within seconds there were several dead.

_"Now_." Sam sprang forward and the rest of us went with him almost as one.

I bounded over a rocky outcrop, launched myself from the top and hurtled down towards one of the newborns. He never even saw me coming and my front paws hit his shoulders, my claws sinking into the hard cold flesh, bearing him to the ground beneath me. Stealing myself against the revolting smell, I thrust my head down, jaws wide and tore his head from his body.

As I lifted my head another of them came at me and I leaped again, but suddenly he was gone and I was clawing at the air. Something hit me in the flanks with as much force as a truck and my rear end sank to the ground as my legs slipped out from under me. I turned my head, snapping at the vampire who had knocked me down, scrambling to my feet again. My second attempt ripped one of his legs off and when he fell, I went for his throat.

I looked up again, glancing around me for my next victim. Much as I was tempted to keep my eye out for Jacob, I didn't need to look for him or the rest of the pack; I could hear every one of them. Their thoughts - satisfaction each time they made a kill, adrenalin pumping through them just as it was through me; their pain when one of the newborns hit them.

Quil and Embry each received a painful punch, but so far Jacob was unhurt. I killed one more before it was my turn to be on the receiving end. Two of them leaped on me at once and much as I attempted to jump clear, the pair overpowered me and I heard myself whimper as steel like arms began to wrap around me. That was the one thing Jasper had told us to avoid. I shook myself, but it was like trying to shake off my own fur.

Suddenly the creature who was gripping me was wrenched away from me, freeing me sufficiently to snap at the second and kill him. As soon as I had removed his head from his body, I turned my head to see who had saved me and was surprised to see Emmett standing there with a corpse at his feet. He nodded at me, then threw himself back into the fray.

The battle came to an end much faster than we had anticipated. Despite the newborns' strength, united vampires and wolves proved stronger and we were left with nothing but bodies and one small cowering vampire girl who no one seemed to have the heart to finish off. We all moved away from the littered corpses and surveyed the damage, just as Edward and Bella appeared with Seth. Everyone turned to look at them.

"Victoria's dead," Edward said. "She and her new mate, Riley came after us."

_"I got him," _Seth boasted. _"Tore him to pieces!"_

_"Well done,_ Seth," Leah said at once.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, one newborn that we had all missed rushed from the trees. It seemed to be making a run for it rather than attacking, but Leah who was closest turned and pounced without hesitation. Halted in its flight, the creature fought back and it was clear he was much stronger than Leah. He hit her hard in the face and threw her to the ground. Jacob was nearest to them and he went to her aid immediately, dragging the creature clear of her with his teeth embedded in its arm. It was the strongest of the lot and even with one arm useless, it kicked him hard enough to sweep his legs out from under him and when he opened his mouth, pulled free and thrust both arms around him.

_"Shit!"_

It was the exact same thing that had happened to me. I hurled myself towards them, my paws flying, snarling in fury as I heard Jacob's whine of pain. The vampire was beneath him, arms around his back and I collided with both of them, the impact knocking Jacob loose of the vice-like grip and throwing him clear. I spun around and leaped at the creature again, just as Sam did the same from the other direction. He took the head and I took one shoulder and we tore the two apart. Consumed with rage, I slammed both front paws down onto the corpse's chest, holding it still while I ripped off each arm with my teeth.

_"That'll do, Paul, it's over,"_ Sam said.

I backed off reluctantly and went to Jacob instead. Sam ducked behind the nearby rocks, phased back, grabbed his shorts and then went to speak to Carlisle and Edward. The other wolves went into the trees and changed back too.

_"Are you ok?"_ I nuzzled Jacob's ear.

_"Yeah, it didn't get chance to break anything, thanks to you."_

I pulled my head away from his and growled angrily at the thought of the creature hurting him.

"Come on, you two, time to go," Sam called out. The rest of the pack were standing in a group now, dressed and waiting for us.

Jacob trotted into the trees quickly and by the time I caught up with him, he was already human and pulling on his cut-off jeans. I phased back quickly and dressed, then caught him in a hug before we went back to join the others. He wrapped his arms around me and held on tight.

"Thank God that's over," he sighed.

I pulled my head back to kiss him, then hugged him even tighter until he flinched suddenly.

"Shit, are you ok? Were you hurt after all?" I let go and backed off.

He placed one hand over the right side of his ribcage and grimaced. I grasped his free hand and led him back towards the others.

"Carlisle! Jacob's hurt!" I cried.

"Don't, it's nothing," Jacob protested.

Carlisle ignored him and came over at once. A quick examination revealed a broken rib.

"I'll come over as soon as I can and strap it up for you," Carlisle said.

"You don't need to, it'll heal in hours," said Sam.

"Then rest," instructed Carlisle. "If you have any further pain or shortness of breath - anything at all out of the ordinary - call me and I'll come straight over. You have my number, Sam."

"Sure. Thanks," Sam nodded.

We all made our way slowly back to Sam's and Jacob immediately went to lie down for a while. He said the pain had already diminished, but he would rest to make sure he didn't aggravate things. I stayed with him a little while and when he fell asleep I left the room and joined the pack. Everyone stayed for dinner, even Leah who wasn't really comfortable spending too long in Emily's company. When they all eventually left, I went back to my room and sat down next to Jacob. He opened his eyes immediately.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"It's fine, I think it healed already." He sat up and pressed a hand over his ribs. "Doesn't hurt at all. I'm exhausted though."

"Me too." I slid my arms around him and we lay down together still dressed. In minutes we were dead to the world.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

With the excitement of the battle over and the threat of vampires gone, everyone seemed at a loose end for a while. There was really no reason for any of us to phase any more and Sam easily settled down to simply work and enjoy his time with Emily, but the rest of us struggled for a while and took occasional outings as wolves into the woods and mountains. Jacob and I did this more than any of the others, simply because we could have fun with it.

With school finished, Jacob turned his hobby into a proper business, advertising his services as a mechanic and because he and Billy were already so well known on the reservation, anyone who needed their car, truck or even motorcycle fixing, started going straight to him. He was kept busy virtually all the time and quickly began to make money.

Sam made me a partner in his business, much to my delight. It took a lot of the pressure off him and meant he could take Emily out more and away on vacation and not worry about work. Meanwhile I loved having extra money and more responsibility.

Around the same time, Jared Imprinted. Kim was a little older than him and had left school the previous year, but it turned out she had had a crush on him for a long time. He ran into her on the reservation by chance and Imprinted right then. They started dating and the pair were immediately besotted with each other, spending every spare minute together.

In August, Bella and Edward got married and invited Billy, Sam and Jacob and their 'plus ones'. Sue Clearwater went with Billy and of course Emily and me accompanied Sam and Jacob. Sam's house was chaos on the morning of the wedding as Emily struggled to do her hair and makeup while constantly being interrupted by three useless males who had never seen a bowtie before and had unclean finger nails and hair standing on end.

"For God's sake, Sam, you need a mother, not a fiancee," Emily grumbled as she fastened his tie, smiling none the less.

"As for you two..." She turned on Jacob and me. "...do up your collars."

"Mine's too tight," I grunted.

"Too bad. I'm sure you can put up with it for a couple of hours. If I have to go to this wedding with all of you, then I don't want any of you showing me up."

I sighed heavily and fastened the button, thinking the damned wedding was more trouble than it was worth.

"Can't we just turn up phased?" I joked. "We could still wear bowties."

"Yes, that would go down well." Emily advanced on me with another tie in her hand. "Stand still, chin up."

Finally everyone was ready, just in time as Billy and Sue arrived in the Clearwaters' MPV to collect us, rather than have anyone arrive at the Cullens' in a truck.

We reached the house just as everyone was gathering on wooden benches in a clearing behind the house. We all sat down on one bench and Billy parked his chair at the end of it.

I didn't like weddings; they were too sickly sweet for me and this one was no exception. The speeches afterwards made me cringe and I sat there with a smile on my face only to avoid irritating Jacob. At least he was holding my hand so it wasn't all bad.

As soon as it was over, I jumped up off the bench in relief and wrenched the hated bowtie loose, popping the button on my collar undone too. Jacob did the same, grinning.

"God, I thought that was never going to end," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled more genuinely now. "You too? I hate weddings, I just didn't want to say so. Bella's your friend."

"Yeah, but I'd rather just see them say 'I do' and then start the party."

"You're about as romantic as me," I snorted. "Let's get away from all these people."

"Ok, but we better go and congratulate them first."

Jacob set off towards Bella and Edward and I followed. We both kissed her on the cheek and shook hands with Edward. I shuddered when I let go of his hand, hating the unnatural coldness of him and wondering how in the world Bella could want _that_ touching her. I grasped Jacob's hand quickly, relishing his warmth and led him away from the crowds.

A band had started up now and some couples began to dance. We paused at a distance amongst the trees and I put my arms around Jacob, pulling him tight against me. He slid his arms up around my neck and I brushed my lips against his, then just cuddled him, my eyes closed. I realised that somehow we seemed to be moving about, just slightly swaying and shuffling and at that moment Jacob laughed in my ear.

"I thought you said you weren't romantic? Here we are smooching like a bad ending in a romance novel."

"Oh, you read romance novels?" I stopped still and met his eyes, grinning.

He laughed again.

"I can think of something much more fun to do," I said. "No one's going to miss us, are they?"

"Doubt it. They're all busy smooching like us."

I let go of him and shoved him playfully, then began to head back to where all the cars were parked. Jacob hurried after me.

"Where are we going?"

"Where did these suits come from?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"They're hired, why?"

"Damn, better take them off first then."

I stopped beside the MPV, glanced around me and established no one was in sight, then quickly began to strip off my clothes. Grinning, Jacob did the same. We folded the items up and put them in the back of the MPV, then phased quickly and bounded into the trees.

We spent perhaps an hour scampering through the woods as darkness began to fall, sharing images in our heads of what we wanted to do to each other when we got back to the house. Sam and Emily would be making the most of the party and wouldn't be home for hours yet, so we didn't have to worry about interruption.

Eventually, it all got too much for me. Jacob was thinking about me pinning him to the bed, pounding myself into him while he dragged his nails down my back and bit into my neck. I was dying to do exactly that and I flew across the meadow to the house with Jacob on my heels, phased back on the porch and grabbed the spare key from under the mat. My dick was standing straight up against my stomach and I threw the door open and turned towards Jacob as he followed me. He was just as aroused as I was and I kicked the door closed and pulled him close, sliding my hands down to his butt and grinding myself against him.

We didn't waste any time making our way to my room. I let go of Jacob reluctantly for a brief moment while I lathered myself in lube and then I pushed him backwards onto the bed, tucking my hand under him and lifting his hips up an inch or two as I kneeled between his thighs and guided myself into him. I plunged forward vigorously until I was all the way in and he rolled his head back, keeping his eyes fixed on mine the way I liked him to. I lowered myself over him and rested my elbows either side of him on the mattress, thrusting myself in and out, harder and harder, groaning at the feel of his hot tightness around me and his nails cutting into my back just as they had in the fantasy.

It was over quickly, the way it always was when we worked ourselves up into such a frenzy beforehand. We rested for a few minutes, catching our breath, then shared a shower. When we returned to my bed we took our time over each, kissing, stroking, tasting and then fucking slowly until we were completely spent.

Afterwards we just lay in each other's arms, close enough for our lips to brush together if we spoke.

"I love you so much," I whispered sleepily. "You're my life."

Jacob didn't say anything for a minute and I wondered if he had already fallen asleep. I was close to it myself, my eyelids too heavy to lift.

"You're mine too," Jacob murmured.

He turned his face into my neck and in just a few more seconds he was sleeping. Despite my exhaustion, I stayed awake for a little while longer, thinking about how lucky I was to have been on the beach the night of the bonfire two years before. That one kiss had turned into my future.


End file.
